DARLENE SAGA: PARTS 23 to 30
by Storyseeker
Summary: A new stranger has come to the Gargoyle's world, bringing with it a new danger, and a new clanmember that never existed.
1. Chapter 1: PART 23

**_All the characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyright Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company.  
No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder._**

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All original characters are the property of Storyseeker!_**

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**_I'd like to thank Kellie Fay for her permission to use her character, Aster. And for being kind enough to check my work, and also an extra special thanks for letting me use, and making some changes on one of her scenes from her original fic for my own story! Many thanks!_**

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**Downtown, New York; 6 Days Later: **

From somewhere in Downtown New York, a couple of homeless men were collecting some old newspapers, magazines, and anything else that would burn, to keep themselves warm.

One of the men rummaged through some garbage in a trashcan; fishing out all the flammable goods he could get, when…

[WHEEEEEE…

A strange piercing noise sounded throughout the deserted alleys and roads, so loud that the men had to cover their ears.

"Bill, what the hell did you do now?!" one of the men yelled at the other, thinking the worst.

"Nothing, I… " the other man, Bill, protested. He was about to say more, but then…

A large bright light suddenly lit up the whole of Downtown, so bright that the men covered their eyes both from the brightness, and in fear.

When the light finally died down, they blinked the spots out of their eyes, and saw something lying in the middle of the road.

"What the…?" The first man curiously edged his way over to the lying dark shape, and began poking it with a rolled up newspaper that he had just recovered. The shape didn't respond at first, so he continued poking it.

"What is it?" Bill called.

"Haven't a clue. Maybe it's a … " he didn't get to finish, as a long red arm suddenly sprang out and grabbed his own, almost crushing it in the process.

"Get.Away.From.Me!" a tired sounding, but also ferocious, voice growled at him.

The homeless man shrieked, and pulled his arm out of the stranger's grip, scrambling away on all fours to where his friend was waiting.

"What is…" Bill started, but his friend just grabbed his sleeve, yanking on it.

"Shut up and run!" he yelled, dragging his confused companion with him.

As the two of them scampered away as fast as they could, the stranger slowly sat up, his eyes tired and weary, but fuelled with a look of deep hatred, intense focus and desperation.

"Where?" it simply said, hissing its question.

0000000000000000

**Eyrie Building: **

It had been almost a week since Elisa and Demona had returned from their journey into the Dragon Dimension. Demona still refused to openly discuss what had actually happened with Margot Yale. She just said that 'the shrew-faced lawyer' volunteered to remain behind with the big lizard, be its queen, and that was the end of the story.

Elisa and Goliath were both, needless to say, very frustrated with her, but when Demona refused to talk, there was no dissuading her. Not even Darlene and Angela had been able to get anything out of her.

"Shouldn't we try and rescue Miss Yale?" Lexington asked, as he and Brooklyn walked toward the kitchen, Broadway munching on some popcorn behind them.

Brooklyn shook his head. "We couldn't get to the Dragon's home-world before, what makes you think this time will be any different?"

Lex sighed. "I know, but still, don't you think we should at least… " He stopped briefly, looking back on their larger brother. "Broadway, why do you even bother putting your hand in that bag? The way you're going on, you might as well just empty the whole thing into your mouth."

Broadway paused for a moment, seemingly in thought. "You know something…" he started, and then turned the bag upside down, over his mouth, devouring every last popcorn that fill in. "Not a bad idea," he said, his mouth full.

Brooklyn and Lexington stared at him.

"What?"

"Brooklyn!" Goliath's voice suddenly called out. "Lexington! Broadway!"

The trio looked to the end of the corridor, and saw Goliath coming up. He seemed most anxious about something.

"There's been a disturbance downtown," he told them. "Elisa has just informed us, and wants us to meet her there."

"The Venes again?" Brooklyn asked hotly. Since they had kidnapped Elisa, he along with everyone else had had their incitement to find the Venes renewed.

"We're not sure," Goliath reported, as he walked past them with them following. "But there are reports stating that whatever kind of a disturbance it is, it is not the typical break-in kind. There are rumours that there is some kind of beast attacking people in that district."

"Not another dragon?" Lex asked fearfully.

"No," Goliath said gratefully. "Whatever it is, it's too small to be a Dragon. But it has already scared some locals, so we need to respond immediately."

"Just once, can't we get a night off?" Broadway mumbled, licking the butter off his talons.

00000000000

**Destine Manor: **

Demona sat idly in her living room, by the fire, staring absently into the flames, while Gem cooed curiously on her lap. She had agreed to watch her tonight, while Darlene had gone for a glide with Griff. Though it seemed more like she was actually watching the fire instead of her granddaughter.

"Gran?"

Demona looked up, seeing her grandson standing in the doorway. "Yes," she replied. "What is it?"

Jarred shrugged, coming up to her. "Nothing, just wondered what you were up to. You seem to have your mind on something?"

Demona shook her head. "It's nothing, just some problems I'm having at work. I can't decide whether or not I should go ahead with a new business venture, or just stick to the one I already have."

"You'll figure it," Jarred said confidently. "You always do."

Demona smiled shortly down at her grandson. His admiration, and almost hero-worship, of her was evident to everyone. He was constantly asking her for more stories from her century's worth of life, the battles she had been in, and the spells she had learnt… and even what she had done today at Nightstone.

Darlene wasn't too thrilled about the battle stories she told him. She claimed it was because she didn't want him growing up thinking that fighting was the answer to everything. Though Demona suspected it was just because she was worried she would corrupt him with tales of hatred of humanity, something that Goliath would no doubt agree with.

A moment later, Lana came in looking worse for wear. Her eyes were bloodshot, and her hair was a mess (which was enough to get Demona's attention, as Lana never went anywhere without first attending to her appearance).

"Lana?" she enquired curiously. "Is something wrong?"

Lana didn't even look up. "I'm fine," she said quietly.

Demona knew there was something up, but she didn't know how to pry it from her granddaughter. It was much simpler back when Darlene was a youngster, as Demona had usually always been able to get the truth out of her… at least, almost always.

"I bet you've been having dreams again about Gabriel," Jarred sneered at his sister.

Lana looked up sharply at him. "Shut up!" she said warningly, glaring at her little brother.

"That's it!" Jarred giggled. "You've been having kissy dreams again about your big boyfriend!" Jarred made loud kissing noises at her, while hugging himself. "Ohhh, Gabriel, you're such a beast," he teased her. "Kiss me, kiss me all night…!"

"SHUT UP!" Lana suddenly exploded, her eyes flaring bright red.

Jarred stopped immediately, frightened for a moment. His sister had always been a bit high-strung, and had given off the odd moment of anger once or twice, when he had stolen her CD or been messing about in her room, but this… this had been a true bottled pressure of rage, something she had never done before.

Demona also stared at her granddaughter, her eye-ridge cocked. "Lana?" she said enquiring again. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing!" Lana snarled, and fled the room before Demona could ask her anything else.

Demona sighed, and reached over to seize her phone from its stand.

"What bug crawled up her loincloth?" Jarred muttered.

"Hush!" Demona commanded, and dialled the number to her daughter's cellphone. If anyone could figure out what was wrong with Lana, her mother could.

000000000000000

**Somewhere Around New York; Near Downtown: **

Darlene and Griff were in the middle of playing a Gargoyle version of the game 'Tag', as they swooped down on each other, soaring and diving across the sky in a pattern that would leave anyone astounded.

"You're good at this!" Darlene called to him, laughing.

"Helps when you've spent most of your life dodging German bombers and machine guns!" Griff laughed back.

Darlene chuckled, wishing that Griff had been around during her youth. The only person whom she had had to play Tag with back then had been their mother, and Demona's idea of playing was when she had been teaching Darlene how to avoid human detection, and to gain the upper claw in a fight with them.

She had once played a game similar to Tag with her, but it was actually more of a tactical practice. She had only been a hatchling at the time, and while she had been gliding through the buildings of the city, excitedly looking for her mother, her mother had swooped down on her, crashing her into another building, telling her to never lower her guard.

'Happy times,' she thought bemused.

Just then, her cellphone started beeping. Darlene cursed slightly, hoping it was nothing serious. She and Griff had barely had a single moment alone together since they had gotten 'hooked' up, as Jarred called it.

"Hello?" she said, answering it.

Griff glided up close to her, seeing that she had a call, curious as to what could be the matter.

A few moments later, Darlene sighed. "I'll be right there," she replied. "See you in a little while." She hung up.

"Problem?" Griff asked.

"Afraid so," Darlene sighed sadly.

"Nothing wrong, is there?" he asked seriously.

"Nothing as in demon abductions, or the Venes, if that's what you mean," Darlene said amusedly. "But mother is having a problem with Lana. Seems she's been acting up a bit lately. I've noticed it, too, but I thought it was just because of you and me."

"I thought your daughter had gotten used to the idea of us being together?" he asked worriedly.

"Yes," Darlene frowned. "But usually, nowadays that doesn't mean anything." She looked at his curious expression, and had to smile at his naivety. "One thing you have to learn about teenagers, Griff… is that they can say one thing, and mean totally another. Trust me, Lana's been doing that her whole life, not just since she hit puberty. Sometimes I think she was born to drive me crazy."

Griff looked at her, even more confused than before, but also worried. He had been thrilled when Darlene and he had started spending time together, and even more when she had seemingly declared interest in him. But if it meant that their time together would mean casting a shadow on her family…

"Perhaps we should take a step back for a while?" he suggested. "I mean, if… "

"No," Darlene said firmly. "Lana and I had his talk already. We discussed it, she had her chance to say her piece, and she said she was fine with it. I can understand how she would have problems with me seeing anyone since her dad past away, but she can't expect me to just give up on my life altogether. And she certainly can't expect me to just stop seeing someone after she's given me her blessing."

Griff glided alongside her, looking uncomfortable. "Darlene," he began unsurely. "You know I would love nothing more than to be with you, but I don't want to come between you and your daughter."

"You won't," she promised. "Lana and I have traded insults countless times in the past. This time won't be any different. I remember one time… "

Before she could say anything else though…

**_"RAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!" _**

Darlene almost jumped out of her skin at the loud roar that echoed through the night, followed by the beeping of car horns, alarms, and panicked cries of the people below.

"So much for a quiet night out," Griff said, as he headed straight down to the commotion, Darlene close behind him.

As they neared the source of the noise, they came face to face with what was undoubtedly the clan's worst fear… a Gargoyle attacking a human.

A young male Gargoyle who, Darlene noticed, bore a striking resemblance to Brooklyn, but had azure coloured skin, like her, and dark hair, was attacking a young woman. The poor woman screamed, as he attempted to rake his claws across her face, hissing and snarling at her.

Griff wasted no time, and roared his challenge as he dove straight at the offending young Gargoyle.

The Gargoyle gave off a loud "Oof!" as Griff crashed into him, sending him hurtling across the road, banging straight into a lamppost.

Darlene landed down beside the young woman, checking her for any injuries. "Are you all right?" she asked urgently.

Meanwhile, Griff continued to struggle with the youngster whom he soon realised may be young, but he was well trained to fight.

"Get off me!" he hissed at Griff.

"So you can attack that woman, I think not," Griff protested, continuing to attempt to gain the upper claw on him.

"No, you fool!" Aster roared. "You've got to stop her from getting away! She's not what you think!"

"Huh?" Griff looked at him weirdly. "Are you barmy or something? There is not a chance on God's earth that I'm letting you get anywhere near… "

"Not even if it's to save your mate!" the stranger countered, anxiously pointing behind the English Gargoyle.

Griff was not tempted to be fooled with the oldest trick in the book, however fate seemed to be on this stranger's side, as he heard Darlene's surprised gasp behind him, followed by a loud choking sound.

Griff quickly turned his head for a second, and was met with the woman whose life they had been trying to save… strangling Darlene.

Darlene had merely asked the woman if she was all right, and the woman had spared her a look before grasping her throat with her one hand, which now seemed to be growing claws, and cutting off all her air supply.

_"You're a pretty one, aren't you,"_ the woman spoke with a deep voice that sounded too deep to be female, and too ancient for the woman's youthful appearance. _"Haven't ever seen one of you before. Looks like this world is a bit more original than the rest."_

"DARLENE!!!" Griff's anxious voice echoed through the night, ending in a roar louder than all the others put together so far that night.

The woman… or whatever she was, didn't have time to even turn her head, as Griff rammed his shoulder into her, sending her flying over the road… but before she even touched the road surface… she vanished.

_"Touched a nerve, did I?"_ the woman's eerie voice sounded off all around them.

The stranger Gargoyle snarled, as he seemingly sniffed at the air, apparently looking for the creature, but to no avail.

"You know, Aster," the eerie voice continued. "We've been through this dance before, again and again. You hunt me down, try to stop me, and as always…fail!" 

The Gargoyle, apparently called Aster, snarled at the disembodied voice.

_"You know the drill, old friend. As before, I'll be off now to do my scouting. Try to stop me if you like. Ta ta!" _

Aster roared loudly, and then looked at Griff as he tended to Darlene. "You!" he shouted. "Why'd you stop me?! I nearly had him! If it weren't for you, I could have finally stopped him, but now thanks to you, he's gone, and for all I know he might very well have condemned your world to…!"

"Easy there, old boy," Griff said, trying to hush the newcomer. "I didn't know she, or he, was an enemy. I just saw you trying to attack a young woman, so I… "

"You saw exactly what he wanted you to see!" Aster said bitterly. "He's done it before, countless times… Every time whenever I get this close, he always finds some way t-to… " Aster quietened down, as he stood still, holding his right side. "Ohhhhhhhhhh…"

Aster slumped to the ground, clutching at his side.

Darlene, having recovered from her fright, raced over to him, with Griff right behind her. She inspected him more closely, and found that his right side had been wounded.

"He's been stabbed," she deduced. "It's not deep, but I suspect he's lost a lot of blood. That would account for him feeling faint. We need to get him somewhere safe, and tend to his wounds."

Griff nodded. "The Eyrie," he replied. "It's closer than your home."

"What about the clan?"

As if by magic, no sooner had she spoke these words, Goliath, Brooklyn, Broadway and Lexington were gliding down to them. They had heard all the loud noises from far above, and had soon spotted all the fighting.

"Wow, you're good," Darlene said in amazement.

"What happened?" Goliath asked, looking to Griff.

Griff shrugged, and was about to answer when…

"Goliath, forgive me," Darlene said, as she tried to lift the stranger Gargoyle on her own. "But that will have to wait. He needs treatment soon. We can tell you what we know on the way."

Goliath looked at Darlene, and then at Griff who responded with just a mindful shrug.

"Never argue with a lady, my rookery mum always said," he replied.

0000000000000

**Eyrie Building: **

Hudson and Darlene dressed the stranger's wounds. Darlene had wanted to use a spell that her mother had taught her that could help speed the healing process, but Hudson openly refused it. He saw no reason to use magic in something that nature could easily heal by itself, after muttering a few things about "Magic, _humph_!".

The rest of the clan were gathered around in the infirmary, waiting for any news of their new guest, Goliath especially. He had been curiously eyeing the new stranger with an odd sense of familiarity, which wasn't surprising considering the stranger's appearance. He almost looked exactly like Brooklyn, with the exception of his colouring. He briefly wondered if perhaps this Gargoyle had some connection to the Wyvern clan?

"Uhhh," the Gargoyle moaned, as he slowly came to.

Darlene instantly went to hold his head steady, speaking softly and soothingly. "It's all right," she assured him. "You're okay now. We've brought you to the clan's home."

"We're at the Eyrie," the Gargoyle suddenly said. It sounded more of a statement than a question.

"Err, yes," she answered, a little confused on how the Gargoyle had guessed where th clan's home was, considering he had been unconscious when they had brought him there.

The Gargoyle moaned, as he raised his head, and then aimed his sights straight onto the Manhattan clan's leader.

"Goliath!" the stranger suddenly blurted out.

Goliath cocked his eye-ridge at him. "Yes," he said cautiously. "How do you know my name, stranger? Who are you?"

The Gargoyle seemed to loose some of his cool demeanour, like he had mistaken Goliath for someone but soon realised his error.

"I apologise," he finally said. "You're not my Goliath."

The clan all looked at him dumbfounded.

"My name's Aster," he informed them, as he inspected his injuries himself. "Sorry for crashing in on you like this, but… I was tracking… _someone_."

"That thing we fought downtown?" Darlene asked, applying the last bandage.

The Gargoyle who had now been identified as Aster looked curiously at her, seemingly noticing her finally. "Yeah," he said. "He… Well, he's not exactly a he, not even a she really. I just call him that."

"Why are you hunting him?" Griff demanded. "Who or what is he, and why pray tell did he attack my mate?!"

Darlene turned her head to stare at the British gargoyle in disbelief… Since when was she his mate???

Aster also stared at the new Gargoyle, but his look was more of recognition. "You're Griff, aren't you?"

Griff looked surprised. "How… "

"We've never met, but I did hear a lot of you from my clan while I was growing up."

"And who is your clan?" Goliath enquired suspiciously. This stranger apparently knew a lot about them, far more than he was at ease with.

Aster looked at Goliath, and gave him a long smirk. "Believe it or not," he finally said. "_You_ are."

The clan all stared at him.

"Nice try, pal," Brooklyn said, almost laughing. "But I think we'd all remember if we had another clan-member here."

"He's not one of your rookery siblings back on Avalon, is he?" Broadway whispered to Angela, to which she simply shook her head, but there was something at the back of her mind that was telling her that she knew this Gargoyle from somewhere.

Aster sighed. "here we go again," he muttered under his breath, but just loud enough for everyone to hear and to wonder what he was talking about. "Okay, listen up," he added more loudly. "My name's Aster. And I know this is going to be hard for you to grasp, but…. Believe it or not, I am a member of your clan… I'm just not from this particular clan."

Everyone just looked at him with a blank expression on all of their faces.

"Okay, first of all, know that I am not from the future or anything like that, but… " Aster paused for a moment, seemingly thinking about what would best describe what he was about to say. "I'm actually from a parallel universe."

If the clan weren't looking blankly at him before, they sure were now.

"Okay, awkward," Aster shrugged.

"Say what?" someone asked.

Aster sighed. "Like I told you, I am a member of your clan, but I'm just not from this reality. I come from a parallel earth, one that is… that was very similar to yours, but where certain events in time took an entirely different route. Don't go asking me any technical questions, because I'm no scientist, okay? But apparently, with every decision that is made in each universe, there are countless other versions in other worlds where the consequences of each decision takes an entirely route."

"Ooooookay," Brooklyn said, giving Lex an odd look, to which he just shrugged.

Aster sighed again. "Okay, next big newsflash. Now I know this is gonna shock you, as it's done a number of times with your other selves before… As I told you, my name is Aster, and I… I am the son of Brooklyn and Angela in another universe."

The silence was so eerie, you could have heard a pin being dropped on the other side of the building.

"Well, that went well," Aster muttered.

_"Say what?!" _

_"Are ye daft?!" _

_"Brooklyn, you jerk!" _

_"Broadway!" _

"Spoke too soon," Aster said, as chaos emitted all around the room.

"ENOUGH!" Goliath's voice roared. He glared at them all into silence, while giving Aster a hard look that demanded a better explanation for his claim than just simply… he was from another dimension. "Explain!"

Aster groaned. "It never gets any better, no matter how many times I have to go through this…" he shuffled around on the bed, getting comfortable. "Okay, first, my parents, Brooklyn and Angela, weren't lovers if that's what you're worried about, Broadway. In my world, my Broadway had some sort of accident leaving him unable to bear a hatchling with Angela. She wanted kids, so she decided to have one with Brooklyn instead, though they were never actually together."

Angela looked nervously at Brooklyn, who met her gaze just as nervously, while Broadway just glared at him with seemingly murderous intent.

"In my world," Aster continued. "My clan was just like this one…" He paused briefly, eyeing Darlene. "Well, except for you. I can't recall ever meeting you in either mine or any other world I've been to before. Mind if I ask who you are?"

Darlene smiled warmly. "I'm Darlene," she cocked her head. "Since your clan is like mine, I'm guessing you also have a Demona in your world, too?"

Aster frowned then, looking angry for a few seconds. "Unfortunately," he admitted, making Darlene look at him curiously, but she chose to ignore it.

"I'm her daughter," she added at his surprised look, "at least in this world. Obviously, since you don't know who I am, I mustn't have come into existence on your world."

Aster looked at her intensely. "A shame then for my world," he said, grinning.

"A-hem," Goliath coughed loudly.

"Oh, yeah," Aster carried on. "My clan was almost exactly like this one, with the exception that my world, for what reason I don't know, was seemingly set sometime in the future. I don't know if it's because my world's timeline worked a little faster than yours, or if it was simply fate. Either way, in my world my reality's Demona hurt my Elisa Maza, and I was chosen to go after her and bring her to justice… "

Aster paused, as a bad memory seemed to have worked its way to the top.

"Aster?" Darlene asked concerned.

"But things didn't go according to play," Aster said bitterly.

000000000000

**Aster's Dimension; 4 Years Ago:**

_Aster swore, as he fought with Demona. If only he could put the bracelet on! He wished he could. But then a quick plan came to him. It might not work, but if it didn't then he'd be no worse off then he was now._

_"You think killing me will stop them? After me another will come, and another and another. You'll never win, Demona. For the rest of your long and miserable life, someone will be hunting you down." He lowered his chin to his chest._

_Demona laughed. "Oh really?" She repositioned the gun._

_Which was exactly what Aster was hoping she'd do. With a flick of his head, he_

_hooked the gun with his horn and sent it flying out of her hand. Then he kicked her. _

_She went flying, and frantically Aster moved to pull the bracelet out of its pouch, jab it on his arm, and run for his life. _

_He didn't get very far. Demona had re-armed and pushed him into a wall, ramming the barrel of the gun to his temple. "No more tricks, boy! It ends now!" Aster shut his eyes and Demona pulled the trigger._

_-click-_

_Demona pulled the trigger again, and again, but all he heard was a click._

_Aster opened his eyes. Why hadn't the gun gone off? Why was he still alive?_

_You are right, Demona. It ends. But it ends with you. _

_Aster turned to the sound of the voice. Well, it wasn't a voice exactly. Aster could_

_hear this voice resonate through his entire body. And yet it felt like a voice, and he knew in which direction it had come. _

_There, to his right, holding Demona's hand with the gun was a transparent young adult Gargoyle._

_She was a deep blood red, and she had a wild mane of jet-black hair. She had wings much like his, with a single finger at the tip, and her eyes... Aster was sure he had seen those gentle eyes before, but he wasn't sure where. In fact he was positive he should know her. _

_Would you truly do this, Demona? Destroy my grandchild and yours? He is the product of our two bloodlines. What has skipped your child and mine will bloom full in him._

_Aster didn't pretend to understand what the spirit was saying. All he heard was her first words, My grandchild and yours? Demona was Angela's mother… he knew that, but her!! _

_He knew her now, he had seen her in his dreams talking to him, comforting him when he was lonely, treating him as if he were her own child. As he grew older, he had thought he had conjured her to replace Brooklyn's neglect, but now he knew. She, Brooklyn's mother, was making up for it._

_Demona looked at the Ghost in horror. "No… You're dead!! I remember. I saw you die!!"_

_And you swore that you would not share my fate, I know. I only wish I had not denied myself so that I could guide you, but I did not. You could have sought guidance from others, and you did not. And this is the result. Your talent has been wasted, and has caused nothing but grief. It is time to end it! the spirit said._

_"NO!" Demona shouted. She broke free of the ghost's grasp and began to run._

_"No!" Aster echoed after Demona. "I can't let her get away!" He made a move to follow, but the red Gargoyle placed a gentle hand on Asters shoulders._

_She will not escape, Aster. Behold._

_Aster looked. Demona was on her knees surrounded by dozens of Gargoyles. Some of them looked vaguely familiar, but he couldn't place them. Demona was staring at them intensely. Suddenly Aster's eyes fell on a face that he knew without a doubt… Hudson._

_"How… " he began to say, but before he could finish… Demona started to laugh. _

_"Got you!" she suddenly cried, and before Aster could even blink, she shot out both of her hand-claws, pointing them at the dozens of transparent Gargoyles, including Aster's Grandmother and Hudson. _

_"BINDUNG!" she cried out. Aster briefly recognised the word as something German, but couldn't understand it. _

_As he watched, Aster saw a bright bolt of lightning shoot out from each of Demona's claws, engulfing all of the surrounding Gargoyles. The clan did nothing at first, but just looked at the strange light in question, but then their looks changed from mildly curious… to outright terror. _

_They began thrashing about, as though in pain, trying to escape the binding light that had overwhelmed them, but were unable to do so. It was as though the light was acting as a sort of rope or chain, trapping them where they stood. _

_"It's about time!" Demona announced. "I was starting to think you guys would never show up." _

_Aster looked at Demona in shock, but he soon channelled it. He didn't know how, but Demona had somehow entrapped the clan, giving her the chance to escape, something he could not allow. _

_"I won't let you get away, Demona!" Aster threw himself at her… _

_Demona just looked at him, as he soared through the air to grab her. Then, with one blink of her eyes, she zapped him. _

_It was as though electricity had come pouring out of her eyes, channelling right through to him. Aster cried out in pain, as he fell to the ground, his body twitching uncontrollably from the electric shock. _

_"If I thought for one moment you were of any threat to me, I wouldn't have let you live for so long," Demona told him. The second that she said that, Aster knew there was something really, really wrong here. _

_It wasn't what she said that confused him, but the way she said it. Demona had always spoken with a tongue of pride, arrogance, and often rage and hatred, but this… the way she had spoken just now… it hadn't been with any of those emotions. She had said it so casually, emotionless, and not only that, but her accent seemed to have changed slightly as well. _

_ How are you doing this?! Aster's grandmother demanded, as she struggled against the lightning bars surrounding her. This is impossible! Nothing can hold us! _

_Demona chuckled. "Typical ghost arrogance," she said, as she looked at them all. "Do you really think just because you're dead that you're invulnerable, and that it gives you the right to walk in this world? This world is meant for the living, and the living alone. When you die, your spirit is meant to cross over to the next plane of existence. The dead have no right to be here, no matter what your excuse, and if you are foolish enough to stay here…then 'anyone' is welcome to your soul!" _

_She walked casually around the still-struggling Gargoyles, peering at them uncaringly. "As for the spell I just used," she explained. "That was just a little bit of ancient German magic that I picked up, oh about a thousand years ago. It has served me well for many centuries." _

_The ruby-coloured Gargoyle glared at Demona venomously, her eyes now showing nothing but true hatred for what had once been her rookery daughter. But Hudson, he said nothing and just stared at Demona. _

_"You truly have no soul," she said bitterly, "to do this to your own clan!" _

_Demona laughed. "Oh, don't tell me. You thought that by showing me these visions of the past, it would make me face my guilt, make me lower my guard so that young Aster here could defeat me? Not a bad plan… in fact, it was downright excellent. There was just one little problem that you didn't think of… " _

_Demona stared at the Gargoyle, which Aster subconsciously named Ruby, for her skin-tone. As she stared at her, Aster managed to raise his head to look at his dark grandmother, and blanched as he saw her face seemingly begin to melt, shift and twist… It was like watching a mould of wet clay on a wheel. _

_Demona's once lovely face lost its azure colouring, as it turned black and sprout out in horrifying lesions. Her flaming red hair looked as if it were actually on fire, as it singed into her scalp, leaving nothing. Her wings turned to mist, dispensing in the air, and her eyes… Her eyes were the worst change of all. Demona has always had a rage-full look in her eyes, which made many people look in terror at her, but these eyes… they had no look in them at all. They were just two dark opals, no irises or pupils, just complete blackness. _

_It was then when Aster finally figured that this creature, whatever or whoever it was, was not Demona at all… _

_"Who are you?" Hudson demanded, having ceased in his struggle against his prison. It was quite clear that he and the others were not going anywhere. _

_Hudson had figured out even before Aster that this was not Demona. Having been the former clan-leader, and one of the many Gargoyles who had raised Demona as a hatchling, and fought with her numerous times, he had noticed the change in her personality immediately. _

_Aster's breath slowly came out, as his lungs struggled to breathe easily, his body recovering from the shock. _

_"I have no name," the thing answered. "Nor do I have any true face. My own true form is too far beyond your limited capacity to comprehend. So I just choose multiple alternatives, such as this one. True, it's not exactly a flattering identity, but I like it. I think it beings out my… inner beauty." He said, as she/he gave them all a toothless grin. _

_"Where is Demona?" Aster asked slowly, partly because he was still having trouble breathing, but also mainly because of his desperation. He refused to accept that he had just spent this whole time hunting for someone that was never there. _

_The thing just looked at him in contempt. "Hate to be the one to burst your bubble, my young warrior," he replied. "But I'm afraid she's no longer here." _

_"Where is she?!" Aster demanded, his voice gaining strength. _

_The thing just shrugged. "I'm afraid I don't know. You see, I needed to take Demona's place in this world, for what reason I'll tell you in a bit, but anyway… I needed to take her place, so obviously I had to get her out of the way." _

_You can't kill her, Ruby said. I or the others would have sensed it the moment she died._

_The thing just smiled. "True, but I could still get her out of the way. I simply… kicked her out so to speak." _

_"Kicked her out?" Aster regained the strength in his legs, standing up, but still felt very weak. _

_The thing looked at him in the eye, its face showing no hate or anger… just arrogance, and seemingly even pity for Aster. "For starters, be aware that I am no Fay, sorcerer or any such thing that you have seen in this world of yours, Aster. I am not even from this world… and no, I am not an alien!" It paused for a moment, and then shrugged. "Well, not an alien in the terms of Martians or intergalactic invaders, but close enough. I exist outside that what you call the space/time continuum. Where I come from, time and space have no meaning. I travel to any time, any place that I wish, and to any universe that gets my fancy." _

_"Universe?" _

_The thing smiled at him. "I can leap between those that you might call alternate worlds, or parallel universes. Think of it, countless earths much like your own. Some which are as different as your race is from the humans, and others so alike that you could easily mistake them for your own. I have been to earths where it was Goliath, not Demona, who betrayed your clan. Another where Demona succeeded in eradicating the entire human race from the planet, and one where the clan and your entire race were nothing more than a fictional story in a cartoon… I grew tired of that boring world quickly." _

_Aster just stared at the grotesque thing in front of him. "Why are you here? And what have you done with the real Demona?!" he demanded, wanting to know where his quarry was. _

_The being just shrugged at him again. "Like I said, I don't know. I needed her out of the way, and since I could not kill her, I did the next best thing… I kicked her out of this universe, and into another one." _

_Aster looked at it, his eyes wide in horror. "Bring her back NOW!" his voice roaring. _

_The thing just cocked an eye-ridge at him. "Testy, aren't we," it said, but just idly checked its claws. "Even if I wanted to, I can't," it replied. "I wasn't particularly caring of where she ended up, so I just picked a random world and sent her into it. And before you ask, no I don't know where that world was. She could be in any one of an infinite number of counter worlds." _

_Aster roared, his legs giving way again, as he rammed his claws into the earth, bringing out whole chunks of it… It had all been for nothing. Everything that Aster and his group had been working towards, the endless hours of the hunt, his promise to Goliath and his and Elisa's daughter, their quest to bring Demona to justice… Now, it would never happen. _

_The thing just looked at him for a while, watching as he unleashed his anger. "Me thinks you've inherited old Granny's temper," it said, smirking. _

_Aster raised his beak to look at the entity that had dared to interfere, his eyes glaring daggers at him. "I will make you suffer for this!" he hissed, and then, despite the pain still twitching in his body, he leapt at the abomination. _

_The entity/thing did nothing to stop him, and just stood where it was, as Aster dove straight at it. But as Aster came at him, the entity just seemed to shimmer out of existence, and disappeared. The second Aster landed on the other side, the entity came back. _

_"Like I said," it explained. "This is not my true form. I am what you would call non-corporal, hence… you can't touch me, numbskull!" _

_Aster roared, leaping at it again, but the entity just kept shimmering in and out of sight, looking bored. "Must as I enjoy playing tag with an intellectually challenged mortal, I really am pressed for time," it told him, and looked back to his imprisoned souls. _

_"What are you doing?!" Aster demanded. _

_The entity didn't even bother to look at him. "What I set out to do in the first place," it simply replied. _

_Ruby and Hudson looked curiously at the entity, as it raised its claws toward them and the other souls. A moment later, the seemingly same energy came out of its finger-claws, striking the gathered souls, only this time… the energy did not bind them, as the first one had done. _

_As Aster watched on in horror, he saw Hudson and Ruby's spirit-forms start to shimmer and fade… _

_Ruby cried out, seemingly in pain (if it was even possible for a ghost to do so), along with Hudson and all the others spirits. Their forms shivered, shook and faded, as though something was draining them. _

_"STOP IT!" Aster roared, throwing himself at the entity again. But this time, the entity just raised its other claw, and Aster felt himself get thrown back again. _

_"Sorry, kid," the thing said. "But like I said, I'm a little pressed for time… and I'm hungry." _

_'Hungry?' _

_Aster's eyes widened, as he finally deduced what it was that the entity was planning to do, watching as the spirits' forms shimmered away even more. _

_"No!" he cried. "No, you can't… STOP!" _

_But Aster couldn't even move, as he lay anchored to the ground, watching helplessly as the deceased members of his clan seemingly had their every essence drained from them. _

_Hudson and Ruby screamed, as part of their forms seemed to waste away right before their eyes. And then Ruby looked right at Aster, her eyes filled with tears… _

_"Forgive us," she visibly shuddered. "Forgive us for not being to help you, my grandson." _

_Hudson looked as though he wanted to say something, but before he could even get to do so… he faded away. _

_Every one of the spirit-forms screamed loudly, as they faded away into some sort of mist that hovered above the ground for a moment, and then the electrical field that had been holding them suddenly dispensed, and the mists went flying through the air right to the entity. _

_The entity seemingly breathed in the mists right through its nose and mouth, and as Aster watched, he saw the entity's features take on a sharper tone; it's body-mass increasing, as though feeding on the spirits energies. _

_"Mmmm," the entity licked its once withered lips. "Tastes like chicken." _

_Aster just stayed where he was, trapped by the entity, as he stared at the vacant places where all the souls of his clan had once been. _

_"Awww," the entity said mockingly. "Upset are we? Well, trust me, kid… there are whole worlds of hurt out there, and this is one of them." It cracked his knuckles, and then stepped around Aster who then fell to the ground, the spell apparently been broken, but still Aster did not move. _

_The entity ignored him, as it moved a little further away, and then raised its arm. "Well, time to be going," it said. "So many worlds, so much to do, and so little time." _

_As it spoke, Aster felt a slight shudder run through the ground beneath him. At least, it started out as a slight shudder, and then quickly it grew and escalated into an enormous earthquake. Aster had to dig his claws into the earth again, this time to hold himself steady, as the trees started to fall all around him. _

_"What's happening?!" _

_"The end of days, kid," the entity simply replied. _

_"What do you mean?" _

_The entity shrugged. "If I had the time, I would bother to explain it to you, but suffice to say, I don't… Your time on this world has past. Enjoy whatever time you have left. See you!" _

_The Entity raised its claws again, and what seemed like a whirlpool of pure blue water opened up in the air, right in front of the Entity. It paused for a moment, seemingly observing all the earthquakes occurring around it, before finally sparing Aster one final look. _

_"Adieu," it simply said, saluting him briefly, and then leapt into the portal, disappearing from sight. _

_Aster stayed where he was, sitting on the ground, his thoughts all a jumble. So many things were going through his mind that he couldn't focus or concentrate… Demona, Ruby, Hudson, the lost souls, the Entity… _

_The portal remained where it had been, its bright light illuminating the darkness around Aster. The young warrior slowly raised his head, taking a look at all the destruction that was happening all around him. The earthquakes had indeed grown worse. There wasn't a single tree, or building in the far distance that wasn't shaken to the ground, and still they would not stop. _

_Despite all the raging thoughts and emotions coursing through him, there was one single rational thought that Aster could think about… The Entity had stolen his destiny. Without Demona, there was no way for him to save Elisa, and he had inadvertently helped that abomination devour the souls of several members of his clan. And now, to top it all off, it looked as though he had helped bring upon the end of the world as well. _

_Aster's eyes fell once more upon the portal that the Entity had escaped through, and as he watched, it seemed to be growing smaller, no doubt meaning that the spell creating it was wearing off. _

_With little choice, and no point, Aster made his decision… He roared his despair to the heavens above, and leapt straight at the portal. _

_As he jumped through the portal, he swore he could hear the screams of his friends and clan-mates… _

0000000000000

Aster finished his tale with a deep breath, and said nothing more.

"Your world…?" Lex asked shortly.

"Is gone," Aster answered for him. "That was four years ago. I've spent all my time tracking down the Entity that destroyed it. It's been my whole purpose ever since. I swore I would not rest until I had found it, and destroyed it!"

"What makes you think you can destroy it?" Broadway asked curiously.

"I can!" Aster suddenly roared at him, making everyone jump. "I know I can. I have to… I can't fail again."

Everyone was silent for a few moments, each not knowing what to say, until finally Angela asked another question.

"You said that the…_Entity_, as you call it? You said that it took your Demona, and sent her off into another world somewhere?"

Aster nodded. "Without her, my world's timeline could never hope to be fulfilled, because when she disappeared, I could never capture her, free my Elisa Maza, or anything. Hence the reason why my world fell apart… The time-tremors literally shook the timeline apart, leaving nothing."

"Did you ever find out where she had gone?"

Aster shook his head. "Honestly, I haven't given her a second thought… or even a first one, to be truthful. She was an enemy to my clan who I was sent to capture… and she could be in any one of an infinite number of worlds. Even the Entity said that he wouldn't be able to find her."

"But there's still a chance?"

Aster shrugged. "Maybe, maybe not. Either way, I don't really give a damn. The only reason I ever went off after Demona in the first place was to help my Elisa Maza… Now she's dead, along with everyone else, so there's no longer any point in me finding her."

"She's the last of your clan…?" Angela started to say.

"She was _NEVER_ one of my clan!" Aster snarled.

Angela backed up a little.

Aster calmed down, breathing deeply. "I'm sorry," he said honestly. "But I really don't want to talk anymore about… her, if you don't mind."

The way he said it obviously meant it wasn't a request, but that he had no intention to do so anyway, so Angela nodded.

"The Entity destroyed your world," Lex enquired, curious, "after collecting just a few souls? Why? I mean, what was the point in that? Couldn't he just wait to see if he could get any more souls instead of the few he got from your clan? Why settle for the few he got, and then destroy the whole planet?"

"He didn't have a choice," Aster said lowly.

"What do you mean?"

Aster sighed again. "Goliath, I assume that in this world you once travelled through time, as my Goliath and countless others have done so, with the Phoenix Gate?"

Goliath nodded. "Yes?"

"Then you know that history is meant to be impossible to change?"

"Yes," Goliath looked at him curiously. "Why?"

"Because that is the exact way how the Entity destroyed my world," Aster said bitterly. "Since my world's destruction, I have crossed into many alternate worlds, met numerous versions of myself, and seen endless versions of how things were meant to be in my world. The Entity himself said that there are worlds out there as different to me as Human appearance is to Gargoyles, and others so alike that they're virtually indistinguishable. It was because of that fact that I was able to see the way that my world should have turned out, had not the Entity interfered."

"And how was it meant to turn out?"

Aster stayed silent for a moment, and Goliath could swear he could see a tear form in one of his eyes, but it lasted only for a second before he blinked it away fiercely.

"Pretty much like I always hoped," Aster shrugged. "I went after Demona, defeated her, Ruby and the others helped me in capturing her and bringing her to Avalon where she released the spell on Elisa, everyone was all happy, the end."

"So what happened?" Brooklyn enquired. He was still finding it a little uncomfortable to be around Aster, after learning whose son he was, but no more than Angela and Broadway were, and his story had stirred his curiosity. "I mean, you're right about history being impossible to change, but if what you say is true, then how was the Entity able to do it?"

"The Entity exists outside of space and time," Aster explained. "The rules of time don't apply to him, only to those of us who exist in the timeline, Human, Gargoyle and Fey alike." He paused for another moment before continuing. "Like I said, my world was supposed to turn out much differently, but because of the Entity… it didn't. And when the Entity changed history, it caused something like a tremor all through the timeline, like a giant earthquake throughout the entire cosmos. The tremors literally ripped my world, and my entire universe it was in apart."

Aster looked down on himself. "If I had the chance to do it again," he said truthfully. "I would never gone through that damn portal after the Entity. I would have stayed in my world, and died with the rest of them. You've no idea what it's like to literally be the absolute last one of your kind, with no home to go to!"

The rest of the clan all shuddered at the thought of loosing literally everything, and wondered how the young wandered could have possibly survived?

It didn't take them long to figure out how, as Aster himself had already told them so… Revenge.

"Sooo," Brooklyn started hesitantly. "Do you have a plan to fight this thing?"

Aster shrugged. "I've fought him numerous times, but each time, he has always managed to get away from me. I know he can be hurt, but only as long as he doesn't use his powers to disembody himself or anything."

"Then maybe we can help?" Brooklyn said shortly, looking to the others. "Maybe Puck or Alex can help, maybe bide the thing's powers somehow?"

"Been there, tried that," Aster said uninterested. "It was one of the first things I ever tried. I even managed to convince Oberon to have a go at him once, but the Entity beat him to a pulp. It was quite a blow to Oberon's ego, let me tell you. I didn't even think steam could come out of someone's head, except in cartoons."

"What about using a scientific approach then?" Lex asked.

"I've been to worlds where science was thousands of years ahead of yours. No dice!"

Goliath noticed that Aster seemed to be getting on edge, so he chose that moment to end the conversation. "Perhaps we should continue this tomorrow night?" he suggested. "Allow you the opportunity to rest."

"We haven't the time to rest!" Aster responded hotly. "Haven't you figured out yet what's going to happen next?!"

The clan looked blankly at him.

"The Entity came to my world because it knew that there was going to be a good source of souls for it to feed on," Aster explained. "I don't know the history of your world, or what's going to happen soon, but for all I know… the same similar thing might be about to happen right here, right now! The Entity could be after some souls in this world, and when he gets them, your world shall follow the same fate as mine… total destruction!"

Angela gasped, while the rest of the clan tried not to look worried, and instead concentrated on formulating a plan.

"I had a feeling we should have stayed home tonight," Griff sighed.

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**Bedford Hotel: **

"Uh, uh, uhhh…" Cecile moaned, as she rode Thailog's enormous body, while he just lay there with his claws gripping the bedposts, coming close to ripping the wooden posts into splinters .

"Oh god," she breathed. "I'm, I'm… " Suddenly, she stopped.

Thailog, caught up in the moment, continued to buck his hips against hers, until she slapped her hand down on his chest, hissing. The second of which she did, he felt a cold numbness take hold of his heart, and thought for one moment she might be inducing a heart attack or something.

"Stop" she hissed, her ears pricked up as though she was listening for something.

"What?" Thailog breathed heavily.

Cecile looked around the room curiously, seemingly searching for something. "Something's not right," she finally said, and climbed up off of Thailog. "Get your loincloth on, we're going out!" she ordered.

Thailog growled in annoyance, but knew better than to argue, and complied.

The twins, Damien and Nathan, were still asleep in the other room, and Cecile saw no reason to awake them, so she continued without them.

A short time later, they were standing on the roof of the hotel, looking out into the night-sky.

"Mind telling me what we're doing out here?" Thailog grumbled. "I _was_ quite comfy where we were."

"Try telling to someone who actually cares," Cecile muttered back, making Thailog's eyes flare red in response. He longed to return inside, but certainly not for the comfort of his chilly ice maiden here.

Cecile raised her hand to the sky, closing her eyes for a moment…

_"From regions of fire to kingdoms of air, send me minions to find me the ones who would do me a scare!" _

The moment she said this, a large burst of fire sprouted up on the roof, lasting only for a few seconds before it seemingly doused itself, and in its place there was a tiny orb of bright light in its centre.

_"Spirits of fire and light, find me the one or ones that I do seek tonight," _Cecile intoned, and the tiny orb whooshed right off into the air before Thailog could even blink.

"Now that?" Thailog sighed.

"It would seem we have visitors," Cecile answered. "But whether these visitors be our friends or foe… has yet to be determined."

To Be Continued… 


	2. Chapter 2: PART 24

_**I'd like to thank **__**Kellie Fay**__** for her permission to use her character, Aster. And for being kind enough to check my work! Many thanks!**_

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**Somewhere Over New York; **

**Short Time Later:**

It looked down and observed all that was before it…

The Entity watched all the tiny cars below pass by with their occupants inside of them, barely giving them a full glance. It was the same as on any other earth that he had gone to. Despite all their differences, there was one thing that each earth had in common, and that was their apparent obsession with poisoning their ozone layer with all that carbon dioxide and such.

'What is it with humans and poisoning themselves?' the Entity wondered. 'If it's not cigarettes, it's polluting their own air. They even cut down their main forests, which supply most of their planet's oxygen.'

The Entity chuckled out loud. "These Humans are without a doubt one of thee most stupidest breeds I've ever faced… They cling so much to life, yet they worsen it for themselves by destroying their own world. If I… " The Entity, paused and listened…

There was a strange sound quickly approaching him. The Entity could feel the occupying magical force that was with it, so it was definitely something mystical.

"Visitors?" the Entity wondered out loud. "Well then, I must be polite."

It watched and waited until the intruding small vestige of magic approached, which was within the next minute.

It appeared to be no more than a tiny orb of light, as it quickly sped up to him. The Entity had seen thousands of these orbs on countless other worlds. They were nothing more than information gathering tools that sorcerers sent to learn more about their enemies.

"How quaint," he muttered. "Well then, might as well see who the curious stranger is then." He raised his hand, or something that closely resembled one anyway, as he was now in a sort of dark-cloud shimmering form. "Let's see where you come from, my little friend, shall we?"

His eyes glowed, as he stared at the floating orb, and highlighted the trail that it had left behind. There wasn't anything to see, nothing that was noticeable to the naked human eye anyway, but then again… the Entity wasn't human.

As it observed, the trail of the orb lit up like a thousand candles, leading back all the way from whence it had come.

The Entity smiled, and followed the trail back to its source…

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**Bedford Hotel: **

"So what exactly is supposed to happen?" Thailog said, bored.

"Patience, Thailog," Cecile ordered, but also gave him a small grin. "Why? Do you have something planned for tonight?"

Thailog looked at her, a bit startled. "Um, no, I…" Before he could finish however, someone else intruded…

_"Good god," _a voice sounded. _"Is this a world where every human female has a male gargoyle for a mate or something?" _

Cecile and Thailog turned, and saw a dark floating shape just hovering above the rooftop, seemingly spying on them curiously.

"Any who can afford them, that is," Cecile said slyly, still eyeing Thailog, making him blush fiercely.

The Entity didn't reply, and just studied them uncaring. "Who are you?" he finally asked.

Cecile bowed shortly before the trans-dimensional being. "Cecile Vene at your service," she introduced herself. "And this is my servant, Thailog."

Thailog glared at her briefly for the 'servant' remark, but kept his mouth shut, and just bowed politely before their new guest.

"Forgive my spying," Cecile continued. "But I sensed that there was a new kind of presence on our world, and I was curious. Please tell us, exactly who and what are you, stranger?"

The Entity barely gave them a glance. "If I was at all interested in revealing myself to you, don't you think I would have done so already?"

Cecile smiled thinly, but Thailog swore he could see a tiny flame of anger crept up into her eyes. "Forgive my abundance," she said politely. "My family and I make it a habit of ours to investigate any new power in this world, and whether or not it can be used to our benefit."

"You or your family, or even your sex toy there are of no importance, or even any interest to me" it said, pointing to Thailog. "I have crossed worlds with beings more powerful than your whole family could ever hope to be. Do you honestly think I would want to share anything I have with the likes of you?"

Cecile started to grind her teeth, a task not unnoticed by Thailog. "You cannot hope to find anyone or anyones with more power than us on this world, sir!" she hissed.

The Entity scoffed. "Then obviously I have nothing whatsoever to fear on this world, or even anything to take pity on."

That was apparently more than even Cecile could take. She yelled at the Entity, and raised her own hands in retaliation, but before she could even utter a single word in Latin…

[ZAP!

Cecile felt her body get rocked backwards, as she felt the energy from the Entity zap right into her. It was like having a thousand electro volts going through her, but fortunately, being a Vene, she was prepared for such attacks, no matter who or what they were from.

"Perbibo," she hissed, reciting the Latin word, and felt her strength slowly return, as her body absorbed the Entity's energy, fuelling her own. "My turn," she said in return. "Luminous Venito!"

Her own magic, combined with the same energy that the Entity had shot her with, shot out of her hand, aiming straight at the Entity. But the invading creature simply shimmered out of existence for a few moments, as the energy past through him, and then reappeared.

"Is that the extent of your powers, little one?" it asked, bored.

Cecile hissed in frustration. "Elements of nature, from earth to air! Come and sweep this intruder from my lair!"

A strong gust of wind, equal to that of a typhoon, swept up all around them, and Thailog had to dig his claws into the concrete to keep himself from being blown off the building. But alas, it did no more damage to the Entity than a single man could do to an entire mountain.

Fortunately, this was not all that Cecile Vene had in mind to do…

"Luminous venito!" she repeated, and once again zapped the Entity.

This time, the Entity had been distracted by the small typhoon to not notice Cecile's second attack, and did not fade away in time.

"AAAARRGHHHH!" the Entity cried. The way he screamed, it was obvious that he was not used to pain, in whatever form. He glared murderously at the female Vene.

Cecile just gave him a smug grin. "Like I said," she explained. "My family are the most powerful, and the most learned people on this planet. You would do well not to make enemies of us."

The Entity never ceased in its glare on her. "You will regret this," it said simply, and then faded away again, and this time did not return.

Thailog dusted the concrete debris off his talons, as he walked over to his mistress. "Happy now?" he asked.

Cecile didn't answer at first, and just looked where the Entity had been for a while. "For now," she replied. "But I have some further questions now, questions that need answers. If our _guest_ isn't going to be too forthcoming, then I'll just have to find someone who is."

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**Lincoln Plaza Apartments: **

A shadowy figure slouched out on the leather sofa near the fireplace, enjoying its warm glow, when the telephone rang...

"Hello?" the figure answered. He waited a few minutes, listening to whoever was on the other end. "Very well. Where shall we meet?" He waited another few seconds, and then confirmed the time and place with him/her. "Can't wait." he said, and then hung up.

"Who was that?" a voice called out to him from the other room.

"Another job," he called back.

A moment later, a Goth-clothed girl came looking out, a towel around her head. "You're not going after those winged freaks again, are you?"

Lightning, aka Brent Maza, looked at her briefly, shrugging. "Might do," he said. "Don't know yet. I'll find out more about the job when I meet the employer in a few days."

Sash chewed her lower lip, but then seemingly shrugged off her worries. "If you say so," she said, accepting his reply. Brent had never let himself get taken by surprise before, with the exception of the Gargoyles from his last job, so she wasn't too worried.

Brent didn't answer, and just went back to staring at the fire… until a shattering noise sounded out of one of the bedrooms, followed by the sound of a child crying.

Just as Sash was about to go answer the crying sound, Brent got up first. "Don't bother, I'll go."

Sash nodded gratefully, and left him to it.

"Hold on, Hannah," Brent said, as he hurried to his daughter's room.

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**Eyrie Building: **

Angela walked over to the battlements where their newest 'guest' was now seemingly brooding. At Goliath's insistence, Xanatos had gotten one of his doctors to collect a DNA sample from Aster, so they could test it to see if his story checked out.

They had performed a simple PCR test first, compared it to Angela and Brooklyn's, and so far they seemed to check out. Their DNA matched, meaning they were quite possibly related, but Xanatos had ordered an official test, just to be sure, because the PCR test only meant that there was a 60 chance that they were Aster's parents.

Unfortunately, the official test would take a couple of days for them to do, and Aster wasn't willing to wait for their help in tracking down this 'Entity' of his. So for now, the clan was willing to help him, but kept watchful eyes constantly on him.

"Coming to see if I'm signalling my goons to attack?" Aster suddenly asked.

Angela moved forward, sitting on the battlement beside him. "If you are, then I suppose I'd better call Goliath and have you locked up."

Aster turned to look at you, his head cocked. "You know," he said. "No matter how many times I see you, in any parallel universe, I can never get used to seeing you this way."

"In what way?"

"Sooo…" Aster replied, seemingly unsure of what to say next. "So… _young_."

"Oh," Angela said, blankly. "Thank you… I think."

Aster shrugged. "Sorry, but my mo… I mean my Angela was middle-aged before I… _left_. It's hard getting used to seeing her, or you, during her youth."

Angela sighed. She was finding it hard talking to someone who claimed he was her son, even though he was as old as she was… and worse, when he wasn't even the son of her beloved mate, but one of her closest friends.

She mentally shook herself, trying desperately to shake those thoughts out of her head, but it was hard. Finding out you might have a son in the future was hard enough, but finding out he was the son you would have if you were someone else besides your mate, was another.

Even now, Angela couldn't figure out what she was meant to do now. If she were to have a child someday with Brooklyn, would it turn out exactly like Aster? And would she be able to?

Aster had said that his Angela had had him with Brooklyn because Broadway had been unable to bear hatchlings, which his Angela had desperately wanted. She could understand that, as she herself wanted hatchlings someday, but Broadway was in the peek of health (his weight not included). Then again, for all she knew, something might happen someday in the future, which could change all that.

As much as she wanted children, would she be willing to bear them with someone else besides her beloved… even if it was the only way, and the only way that the clan would have a future? Which was another part reason why she wanted hatchlings, not just because of her great desire for them, but also because the clan needed them to survive. There were so few of them left now. Even if each of the clan had children, there was no guarantee their clan would survive into the next millennium, considering how small the clan was.

"Are you all right?" Aster asked.

Angela shook her head. "Yes," she assured him. "I'm fine. I was just… thinking."

"About how difficult I'm making it for you for being here with you lot," Aster added.

Angela looked up, startled. "No, that's not…"

"Yes, it is," Aster said with a wry grin. "I know, because I would be too, if it was me in your shoes… or talons."

Angela smiled slowly, but then looked serious. "I admit that it is a little unusual," she tried to focus her words carefully. "I doubt it has made my mate happy, that's for sure."

Aster did laugh then. "Yeah, I can see how that would ruin any guy's day… Finding out that his wife might one day have a kid with someone else. But it's not as if my Ange and Brook had an affair or anything. They were close friends, but nothing more. She loved my Broadway more than anything."

Angela looked at him thoughtfully. "How close I am to your Angela?" she asked. "I mean, not just my appearance, but my personality and such."

Aster screwed the bottom bit of his beak, as he looked hard at her, as though looking for any inconsistencies. "Far as I can tell," he admitted. "You're as alike as two peas in a pod. I mean, I never had an in-depth conversation or anything with my Angela when she was a teenager… well, not for long anyway…"

Angela looked at him weirdly, wondering what he meant by that.

"Long story," Aster just replied, and carried on. "But as far as I can tell you, you seem the same. My Angela was often curious about everything in this world. She loved her kids, and the kids of the clan. She cared about anyone and anything…even when she shouldn't have."

Angela sighed, as she had a feeling what he meant by that little remark. "You're talking about Demona, aren't you?"

Aster growled a little. "I don't know what your Demona is like in this world, so for all I know she might be a saint compared to mine. But my Demona brought nothing to my mother but misery. She tried to hide it, but it hurt my mom every time when she had to face her own mother in battle, and it nearly destroyed her when she cursed Elisa and…" Aster paused momentarily, as ugly memories started worming their way back into his head.

Angela reached out and touched his arm. "I am sorry for everything you've been through." She told him truthfully.

Aster snorted. "You know, during everything I went through, the battles with Demona, my training, even the issues I had with some of the clan… I generally thought it would be all be worth it in the end." He smiled bitterly. "Some worthwhile, huh."

Angela continued holding her hand where it was, on his shoulder. "Perhaps you could stay here?" she offered. "I mean I'm sure my clan would gladly… "

"No!" Aster said forcefully, stepping back from her hand. "I can't, I won't!"

Angela looked at him worriedly, making him sigh in frustration.

"I'm sorry," Aster apologised. "It's not that I'm ungrateful or anything, but… Look, you guys may all look like my clan, and for all I know you maybe every bit like how my clan used to be, but the fact is… as much as I want to believe it… You are not my clan. And every time I look at you, or any of your counterparts on other worlds, I am constantly reminded of that fact, and that my true clan are all dead and gone."

Aster shuddered visibly. "It's like a blow to the head every time I remember that."

Angela looked at him in true pity. She couldn't help but notice that his story was very similar to her mother's, being the last of his kind and all, but had better sense than to say it out loud, as she doubted that he would find the comparison flattering.

"By the way," she suddenly asked, wondering about something else that had been bothering her. "I wanted to ask you, just how is it that you've been following the Entity across dimensions?"

Aster raised his beak to look at her.

" I mean, somehow I don't think the Entity would be willingly taking you along for the ride, considering that you're trying to destroy it all the time. So how do you do it?"

Aster reached into his loincloth and pulled out a shining talisman. When Angela saw it, she gasped, for she knew this talisman very well… It was the Phoenix Gate.

"How…?" she began.

"I got it from the first universe I went into after leaving my own," Aster answered for her. "Far as I know, in that universe, the Phoenix Gate was never thrown away into the flames of time. When I got there, I took the gate and have since then used it to track down the Entity."

"_Took_ it?"

Aster looked at her indignantly. "I didn't steal it if that's what you mean. The inhabitants of that world offered it to me freely, when I told them about the Entity. They figured I would need all the help I could get, and this Gate isn't like the others in other worlds."

"How do you mean?"

Aster shrugged. "Near as I can tell, most of the Phoenix Gates in other worlds all seem to be limited to travelling in their own universe, and no one else's. But this one… this one somehow can travel not only through space and time, but also through alternate worlds as well."

"Seems pretty convenient," Angela said, looking suspicious. "I mean, the first world you go into, and you find a talisman that can help you track your worst enemy, when nothing else can."

Aster nodded slowly. "Yeah, I have often wondered about that… I sometimes wonder if it was maybe fate, or if someone knew I was coming and had it ready for me... "

"Or?"

"Or if maybe if it's all a trap," Aster finished for her. "I've never stopped thinking about it, but then again I've never really cared… " He held out the Gate for her to see. "This talisman is literally the only thing I have to help me track down my enemy. Without it, I can never hope to face him again, or achieve my ultimate goal to avenge my friends and family."

Angela looked at him sadly. "I know you've been through so much," she said. "Who knows? I might do the exact same thing you're doing, but… Aster, you shouldn't give yourself to hatred and rage so. It will gain you nothing but heartache."

Aster snorted in disgust. "Don't feed me that old line!" He went back to looking out over the battlements. "I've heard it before from countless other Angelas, and most of them are gone now, too… Killed by the very thing I am hunting. Do you want me to take the same risk here in your world, too?"

Angela gulped, but said nothing.

"Thought not," Aster said, but didn't look at her.

"So what are you going to do, when you eventually kill this Entity?" Angela continued. "Settle somewhere in the first descent dimension you get to?"

Aster still didn't look at her. "Maybe… or maybe I'll just put a bullet through my head and end it there."

Angela gave a small bubble of laughter, but when Aster didn't join in, she froze. "You're not serious?"

Still, Aster would not look at her.

0000000000

**Destine Manor: **

Demona jiggled Gem about, trying to calm her as she cried her eyes out.

"Come on, Granddaughter," Demona all but pleaded. "Enough is enough. Give your grandmother a break, and take a five minute break or something!"

Still, Gem continued her onslaught of childish fits and screeching cries.

Finally, Demona gratefully heard the sound of wings flapping, and the small thump as something landed on the balcony outside. A few moments later, her second-born daughter entered through the balcony doors. Griff was with her too, but had the good sense and politeness to remain outside until invited in.

"It's about time!" Demona all but accused her. "Where have you been?"

Darlene cocked her eye-ridge at her. "And a very pleasant evening to you, too, mother," she said, reaching for her own youngest daughter.

Demona gladly handed over her littlest granddaughter, sighing mildly in relief.

"How's everyone else?" Darlene asked, trying to soothe her child.

"Well, Jarred's in the middle of a little…" Demona began.

[BANG!

Demona closed her eyes briefly, hissing slightly. "Correction, he WAS in the _middle_ of a little spell lesson that I had given him."

A few seconds later, Jarred came rushing through the door.

"Man, Gran!" Jarred yelled excitedly. "That was awesome! Could I do that spell again, cos it would be perfect to play a prank on…"

"Jarred!" Darlene suddenly said warningly.

The young male hatchling, seemingly having just noticed his mother in the room, gulped and immediately lost his smile. "Oh, hey, mom. Had a good night out?"

Darlene just stood staring at him. "We hit a few snags, but other than that it was quite a memorable evening," she explained.

"Why? What happened?"

"Later. Now mind telling me what that big explosion was all about?"

"Oh, well…" Jarred shuffled his feet uncomfortably. "Well, you see, I wanted to try something new. Gran said the spell would…"

"Have you been playing about with potion ingredients again?" Darlene deduced.

Jarred lowered his head, his ears dropped low.

"Jarred!" Demona snarled. "Isn't it enough you blew up my lab last time you tried casting a spell, now you have to do it once every week?"

"Mother," Darlene held out her claw to halt her mother. "Jarred, you know you're not supposed to play about with the spells of whatever potion you're working on. Each spell requires precise ingredients needed for it to work. If you don't follow the spell to the letter, there's no telling what will happen."

"Sorry, mom," Jarred apologised. "I just wanted to see if I could spice the spell up a little."

Darlene scoffed. "Well, you certainly did that, that's for sure."

"Spiced?" Demona growled. "This isn't a recipe for Mexican chilli that you're doing, Jarred! This is a magic spell, plain and simple!"

"Mother!" Darlene felt a headache coming up. "Not now." She looked back to her son. "Jarred, take your sister up to her bed, and then got to your room. I'll deal with you then. Mother, would you please go with them?"

"What?" Demona began, but then saw the look on her daughter's face. "Ohhh, very well." Demona headed after her grandchildren when Darlene handed Gem over to Jarred, pausing slightly at the door. "Oh, Darlene… When you're finished here, I need to talk to you about something important. Please be quick."

Darlene nodded, and once Demona had left the room she turned back to the balcony door. "You can come in now, you know," she told the English gargoyle.

Griff came in, smiling. "Ah, alone at last," he said, coming up close to her.

Darlene however held up her claw, keeping him at bay. "Not so fast," she said. "Griff, we need to talk… now."

"About what?" he said, confused.

"About why for some reason I am suddenly your mate," Darlene told him, her eye-ridge raised at him.

"Oh… that," Griff said, looking nervous.

"Griff, correct me if I'm wrong," Darlene continued with her arms crossed. "But I seem to recall talking to you about taking things slow… Now, all of a sudden, I am your mate?"

"Now wait a moment," Griff said defensively. "I fully agree with you about taking things small… What I said, I just said in the heat of the moment. It doesn't have to mean anything."

Darlene's eyes sparked red for a second. "Oh, so I don't mean anything to you then?"

Griff waved his claws. "No, no, no! That's not it at all!"

"So what is it then?"

Griff gulped, worried about what to say next, considering that everything he had say up to now had gotten him into more trouble.

"I think you'd better leave, Griff," Darlene said after a couple of minutes when Griff still wouldn't say anything.

"Wait," Griff tried. "Let me explain… "

"I believe I just gave you the opportunity, didn't I?" Darlene said emotionlessly. "Come back when you've had a chance to think up some better lines. Oh and next time, you might want to think up a better strategy."

Griff looked as if he was about to say something further, but the hard look he got from Darlene was enough to make him pause him in his tracks. With his tail drooped, he backed out of the room, onto the balcony, and glided away.

Darlene sighed. "I thought females were supposed to go through these type of things when they were still Lana's age. How come I'm going through them?"

0000000000

**Bedford Hotel: **

"Vigil, nigra Regina!" Cecile chanted. "Vigil et venio facesso meus licitatio!" (Awake, dark queen! Awake and come do my bidding!"

A spark of dark-coloured flames suddenly sprouted up on the roof, its fire's roar making music louder than a choir.

"Here we go again," Thailog muttered.

The reptilian head of the dark Goddess, Kauket, appeared, and she did not look pleased.

_"Why do you summon me again?" _she demanded. _"I have given you all the help I am willing to give you so far. How dare you ask another favour!" _

"Forgive me, my dark queen," Cecile apologised. "But something new has recently come up. A new problem, of which I am unfamiliar with."

Kauket cocked her head. _"Intriguing," _she simply said, but nothing more.

"A stranger has entered our world," Cecile continued. "I know not who he is, but I do know that his power is not of this world, or the next. I tried to track his aura, but my spells could not find any information of him."

Kauket seemingly frowned. _"One moment," _she Goddess said, as she shut her thin slit eyes.

Thailog and Cecile remained where they were, waiting patiently. Thailog stood by, idly twitching his feet-claws, while Cecile just stood perfectly still.

Finally, Kauket's eyes opened and stared straight at them. "_Your time maybe coming to an end," _she announced.

"What do you mean?" Cecile demanded, forgetting for one to show respect for a Goddess.

Fortunately, Kauket didn't seem to notice or care. _"The being that has entered your world," _she hissed at them. _"Is a being from a world unknown to even us Gods. It has no name, nor any true form of its own, just an insatiable hunger that drives it to its goal." _

"Which is?" Thailog interrupted, earning a slap from Cecile, as she glared at him, mentally telling him to be quiet.

_"To feed!" _Kauket simply said. _"To feed on souls from those who will or will not give willingly. Souls that will give it strength, nourishment… power!" _

"And it's come here, to our world, to find some new souls on which to feed?" Cecile asked.

"The being does not exist within the same timeframe as you mortals. It exists outside… As such, no laws of time or space apply to it. It can change the course of history… but at a price."

"What price?"

_"Complete and total destruction!" _

Cecile frowned. "What spells are needed for its destruction?"

Kauket suddenly laughed, making Cecile cock her eyebrow at her.

"No mortal spell can contain this being! It exists outside time and space, and as powerful as you Venes may think you are… You have no power beyond those limits."

"I refuse to accept that," Cecile said arrogantly. "We have always succeeded in one way or another to defeat our enemies. This one is no different."

_"Like your precious King Arthur's sword?" _

Cecile looked at Kauket emotionlessly, but underneath her soul seared with rage.

_"There is no way to defeat the being," _Kauket carried on, but as she spoke, her vision started to fade. _"But not being able to kill your enemy does not mean you cannot contain them. But to do that, you will need allies, those who have what you do not have… " _

"What things?" Cecile demanded, but by then Kauket had vanished. "Cursed snake!" she swore.

Thailog stared at her. "What now? Do we forget about it?"

"I would have allied myself with this stranger, but not now," Cecile explained.

"Why not?"

Cecile scoffed. "You heard Kauket. He destroys entire worlds by just being in them. As much as I crave power, I do not wish to risk destroying the whole world, myself included with it. No… this being, entity or whatever he is, is obviously too dangerous to continue to let loose. If we can't destroy him, then we shall find a way to render him harmless."

"How do we do that?"

"Kauket said we need allies who have something we don't, something that will aid in our capture of the stranger," Cecile said thoughtfully. "There is only one people who have something we don't have, and that is the Manhattan clan. Their King Arthur, and his sword Excalibur… they must be the items that can destroy this thing."

"And you really think they'll just let you come up and take the sword from them?" Thailog said bemused.

Cecile gave a small dark smile. "If they want to save their precious world, they'd better."

**To Be Continued… **


	3. Chapter 3: PART 25

****

**_I'd like to thank Kellie Fay for her permission to use her character, Aster. And for being kind enough to check my work! Many thanks!_**

00000000000000000000

**Destine Manor:**

"Lana?" Darlene called through the door, tapping on it slightly. Her mother had told her about Lana's outburst earlier.

She had been knocking the door for a few minutes now, but still there was no answer. Darlene felt her maternal instincts kicking in and starting to get worried.

"Lana, please open the door!" Darlene called, but to no avail. She tried listening through the door with her acute hearing, but heard nothing.

"Lana, whatever's troubling you, I'm sure we can handle it," she insisted. "We've always dealt with every problem in the past, so there's no reason we can't handle this one, whatever it is."

A few moments later, Darlene considered going to her mother to talk to her about having the door broken down, when…

The lock on the door sounded, and the door slowly creaked open, revealing Lana's tear-streaked face.

"Lana," Darlene said, staring at her daughter's bloodshot eyes. "What on earth's the matter?"

Lana didn't say anything, and just rushed into her mother's arms, weeping loudly.

Darlene obliged her daughter by hugging her tightly, stroking her soft white-blonde hair. She didn't question her further; as it was obvious she was too traumatised at the moment to answer anything clearly. So she just stayed where she was, holding her in a mother's protective embrace.

They stayed where they both were for a few minutes, until Lana finally seemingly calmed down, and stood back to look at her mother.

"Now," Darlene said comfortingly. "Are you ready to tell me what this is all about?"

Lana opened her mouth to speak, but before she could say anything…

"Lana?" Gabriel's voice echoed down the corridor, and Lana practically snapped her head to where his voice sounded from, and saw her boyfriend coming down the corridor toward her.

"Demona told me you were unwell," Gabriel said concerned. "Are you feeling…?"

But before he could finish, Lana screamed and raced back into her room, slamming the door behind her and locking it.

"Lana!" Darlene and Gabriel both yelled, banging on the door, but Lana gave no indication that she had even heard them.

"What happened?" Gabriel asked worriedly.

"I haven't the slightest idea," Darlene replied confused. "She's been acting strange tonight. I was just getting through to her when you came in, and the second she heard your voice she just turned tail and ran back inside."

"What did I do?" Gabriel looked horrified, as he was worried that he might have offended the love of his life. Or worse, maybe even have frightened her.

"I don't know," Darlene frowned. "But clearly there is something about you that is causing her distress tonight… Gabriel, I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

Gabriel looked ready to argue, but Darlene beat him o it.

"Please, no arguing," she demanded. "Like I said, you seem to be the cause pf Lana's distress, for whatever reason. As long as you're here, I might not be able to get her to talk to me. So please, leave now… Don't make me get my mother in here to throw you out."

Gabriel definitely looked worried then, at the mention of fighting Demona. Fearless as he was, he knew Demona was more than a match for him.

Finally, he relented, and made his way back down the corridor.

Once he was gone, Darlene knocked the door again. "Lana?" she said softly. "You don't have to worry. Gabriel's gone now. Please open the door, and let's talk."

Minutes past by slowly, and just when Darlene was about to give up… the door opened.

"Mom?" Lana said tearfully.

Before her daughter could have another chance to lock the door on her, Darlene quickly past by her daughter, into her room, and closed the door behind her.

"Now tell me," Darlene said firmly. "What's happened? Has Gabriel done something to upset you?"

Lana quickly shook her head.

"Then why were you so upset when he came in?"

Lana sobbed loudly, hiding her face in her claws.

"Look, just stop," Darlene told her. "Whatever's happened, we can work through it together. I promise!"

Lana sobbed for a few moments more, but she then looked up at her mother, and started to whisper.

"I've been… " she began. "I'm… I'm having dreams again."

"Dreams?" Darlene looked confused. "What sort of dreams?"

Lana looked as if she was chewing on tinfoil, her mind struggling with a bad memory. "Thailog," she simply replied.

Darlene's eyes widened. "Oh my baby," she half-cried, and hugged her daughter again.

'How could this have happened?' she thought. Her mother had cast a spell that was supposed to drown out the dark dreams she was having about Thailog. Could the spell have worn off?

'Seems like no spell is 100 effective anymore,' she thought.

"Lana, you've nothing to be ashamed of," she told her daughter. "I don't know why you're having these dreams again, but remember that it was Thailog who did wrong, not you. You are not the one in disgrace here…"

Lana sobbed again. "But that's just it," she cried. "I am!"

Darlene stared at her. "What do you mean?" she asked, honestly confused. "Whatever makes you think that?"

Lana turned away from her mother, hugging herself as though for protection. "These dreams aren't the same as the ones I had before," she explained. "The ones before… they were nightmares, plain and simple. Thailog would come to me in my sleep and rape me again, and that was it…. But these… " Lana shook visibly.

Darlene touched her daughter's shoulder soothingly. "What about them?"

Lana swallowed. "In these dreams, Thailog is coming onto me again, but… not like he was in the others. In these dreams, he's calm and tender… just like he was when he… when we first… when we were first _intimate_."

Darlene growled lowly, having murderous thoughts of Thailog seducing her daughter like that.

"In a way, he's acting just like Gabriel does with me," Lana continued. "Calm, loving, tender… And when we make love, he's not raping me, but he's doing it in the way that Gab… That is, the way that lovers do it in the movies and those zany romance novels you read. And I… " Lana bent over, looking like she was about to be sick.

"What?" Darlene said, touching her daughter's shoulders gently.

"In each of the dreams, when Thailog is… doing whatever he's doing," Lana choked. "I-I… "

"Yes?"

"I-I respond to what he's doing by… " Lana looked up fearfully at her mother. "And I… I enjoy it!" Lana started sobbing again uncontrollably.

Darlene looked at her child so totally confused, but embraced her all the same. "Lana," she began, but was a little unsure of what to say. "I'm not sure quite what to say, but… Lana, you have to understand that after everything you went through, it's not surprising your mind is a little… jumbled up right now."

"Jumbled up???" Lana said, sounding indignant. "Mom, I'm not just jumbled up, I'm insane! Don't you think there isn't a waking moment of my life when I don't feel sick every time I think about Thailog? Don't you think I just wanna curl up and die every time I think about what he did to me, before and after I learnt who he really was…?" Her sides shook emotionally.

"I don't know why I'm having these dreams again," Lana cried. "I really don't. I've been trying to put Thailog out of my mind for ages, especially now that Gabriel's in my life, but… Now that these dreams are starting again, I… I don't know what's wrong with me!"

Darlene just held her daughter tightly. "It's all right, baby," she promised her. "We'll set things right, I promise."

"How?"

"Just… trust me," her mother vowed.

A few minutes later, after Lana had calmed down a little and was resting in her room, Darlene came marching down the mansion and into her mother's study.

Demona looked up from her desk in surprise.

"Mother, we have to talk," Darlene said simply, and then explained everything that had occurred in the last few minutes with Lana…

Demona frowned when Darlene finished her tale. "This doesn't seem likely," she said finally.

"What do you mean?" Darlene asked.

Demona shrugged, her mind racing. Despite her terrible rage and intense hatred of humanity, Demona's mind was literally one of the greatest in the world. She searched through her thoughts of a thousand years, of all the knowledge she had gained over that time, looking for the information she sought.

"I mean what I say," she told her daughter. "I cast the spell myself, which would banish all nightmares from Lana's subconscious mind. You and I both agreed that we would wait until we thought Lana had recovered more from her ordeal, and then remove it. But I have yet to do so. The spell isn't like your _transformation_ spell… "

She spoke the last part with a bit of venom in her voice, but Darlene chose to ignore it this time.

"… The spell is simple, but powerful," Demona continued. "It should never have worn off, at least not until I said so."

"Then why is Lana having bad dreams again?!" Darlene asked frustrated.

"I don't know!" Demona growled, making Darlene back off. Frustrated and concerned as she was about her daughter, Darlene knew better than to get her mother agitated.

Demona seethed, as she furiously thought through all her centuries worth of knowledge, but nothing came to her mind about why this had happened.

"I shall check the spell," Demona said finally. "I'll recast it again if necessary, but aside from that there is nothing more I can do, except research."

Darlene growled mentally, her fists tightened. "Do what you can," she told her mother, and then turned to go back to her daughter's room t check on her.

"Darlene!" Demona called after her.

Darlene looked back briefly at her mother.

"We will find a way to end this," Demona swore, but said nothing else.

Darlene just nodded. 'Let us hope so,' she thought.

00000000000000000000

**Eyrie Building:**

Most of the clan were gathered in the Great Hall, aside from Gabriel who had gone to see Lana, and Angela who had gone to try and talk to Aster.

Broadway was still giving Brooklyn the occasional murderous glare, but at least he wasn't getting ready to tackle him again.

Angela soon came in through the main entrance, her face looking troubled.

"What have you found out, Angela?" Goliath asked his daughter seriously.

"Only that our 'guest' is a very trouble young Gargoyle," she answered, her face betraying her thoughts.

"What did he say?" Lexington asked.

Angela sighed. "I would prefer not to go into too much detail, but suffice to say that his only reason in life now is to hunt down this enemy of his, and destroy him. Aside from that, he doesn't seem to care much for anything else."

Goliath frowned. He found this highly disconcerting, but he couldn't allow personal feelings cloud his judgement now. They had a new and even more powerful enemy to defeat it seemed, and as harsh as it sounded, he couldn't allow his feelings for an obviously emotionally-unstable young Gargoyle stand over their need to find a way to defeat the new threat and save their world.

"Lexington," Goliath ordered. "Contact Arthur and Griff. If this new threat is as powerful as Aster described, we'll need all the help we can get. Brooklyn, have Owen contact Demona and see if she knows of any spells that might aid us. Hudson, go talk to Sarah and see what she… "

"Goliath?" a stoic voice called out.

The clan spun around to face Xanatos's personal assistant, and his child's magical teacher in disguise, standing right behind them.

"Geez, Owen!" Brooklyn breathed out. "Don't your footsteps have any sound coming out of them?"

Owen spared him a small cock of his eyebrow, but otherwise ignored him, turning straight to Goliath. "Goliath, forgive the interruption," he informed the clan leader. "But there's a telephone call for you."

Goliath nodded. "Tell Elisa that I…"

"No, not your wife," Owen corrected him. "Someone else."

Goliath looked at him blankly. If it wasn't Elisa on the phone then who? Who else would know where to call him?

"Who?"

Owen appeared a little uncomfortable, which was very un-Owen like. "The phonecall is from Miss Cecile Vene. She claims to have information regarding the new entity that has intruded on our reality."

Most of the clan gasped upon hearing that the Venes were calling them, Angela included. She looked around back to her father to see his face turning a darker shade of purple.

'Oh no,' she thought.

"Tell the Venes," Goliath started, but the way he began his sentence showed that he was definitely in no mood to talk peacefully. "That I would rather have my…!"

"Father!" Angela spoke out loudly, rushing to his side, touching his shoulder to calm him. "Be calm."

Goliath looked astounded at his daughter, along with the rest of the clan, all wondering if she had gone mad?

"Angela…" Broadway started.

"Are you…?" Brooklyn started to finish.

"Yes, I know these are our enemies," Angela finished for them. "But we may as well find out what it is they want."

Goliath looked at his daughter indignantly. "Angela, I realise you have a more gentle and trusting soul than to the rest of us, but there is no chance that I am going to willingly speak to those… those… _things_!"

The rest of the clan seemingly agreed.

"Yeah, Angela," Broadway fumed. "Have you forgotten they kidnapped Elisa… and your mother?" he said the last word with a hushed tone. Even Broadway had issues with Demona. After spending so much time fighting her, it was hard to accept her as becoming part of the clan again.

"I know," Angela sighed. "But if they have information concerning…"

"This discussion is at an end," Goliath said simply. "Owen, tell the Venes that there is nothing they have that we could possibly want from them."

"Father!" Angela cried out, as Owen was about to leave, stopping him in his tracks. "You can't do that."

Goliath glared at his daughter. "Angela, the Venes may have the secret to life for all I care, but nothing will ever make me willingly go tot hem for…"

"Not even if it was to save the world?!" Angela interjected. "I know what the Venes are like, and I remember what they have done so far. Believe me, I have no desire to even face them again, let alone do business with them. But if we are to have any hope in battling this new threat, we may have to make certain sacrifices to do so."

Goliath grinded his fangs in frustration.

Angela looked at him in sympathy. "I know how terrible this must be to you," she said honestly. "Remember, I was there when the Venes set loose the Midguard Serpent, and the Dragon on us and New York. I want justice for the lives lost those nights just as much as any of you. But if we are to have any hope of doing so, we must first live through this night ourselves."

Goliath growled furiously, but deep down knew that his daughter spoke the truth, repulsive as it may sound to him.

"Fine," he relented. "Owen, bring me the phone!"

Owen nodded his head shortly, and left to retrieve the telephone, leaving behind a lot of unhappy Gargoyles.

"Say, what's going on?" a new voice suddenly spoke up.

The clan turned around to find Aster walking in on them from the main doors. He stared at them suspiciously, wondering what had gotten Goliath's ire up, as he had heard his growls from outside.

"Nothing to concern you," Goliath replied, but Aster still looked suspiciously at him.

"Everything concerns me," Aster said in a matter of fact. "Now what's going on?"

The clan all looked unsure for a few moments, but the glare they got from their newest guest soon woke one of them out from their stupor.

"We've had a call from…" Angela started, but paused for a second. "…From some associates of ours. They claim to have made contact with the Entity."

Aster's face grew dark. "Where?" he asked simply.

Angela shrugged. "We don't know yet. We were just about to talk to them, but… Well, we are a little reluctant to trust them."

"Why?"

Angela grimaced a little, and Aster soon got the point.

"Ah, I see," he looked around all of them. "These associates enemies of yours?"

Goliath nodded.

Aster frowned. "Who are they?"

"They're called the Venes," Angela continued. "They're a family of sorcerers who have been practising magic for centuries."

Aster looked up for a bit, seemingly in thought. "Venes…" he muttered quietly to himself, but then shrugged. "Nope, can't say I've heard of them. And no, I've never heard of any Venes in any other dimension I've been to as of yet."

Owen soon came in with a mobile phone, holding it out to Goliath.

Goliath took the phone, and was about to talk into it… when he saw Aster make his way closer to him, to listen.

"There is no need for you to listen to this, Aster," he assured him. "We do not even know if the Venes truly met with your family."

"You only have to get them to mention a few things about him," Aster told him. "If it was him then I'll know for sure."

"Still, I…"

"Goliath!" Aster said, probably a little more forcefully than he intended. "You can go on at me for as long as you like, but either way I'm staying here. Now, talk to them!"

The clan all looked expectantly at their leader. With his word, they would have escorted Aster away, despite his objections. But Goliath had a feeling that Aster would fight all of them to the death, if it meant even a shimmer of hope for him to find his enemy.

"Very well," he relented.

Aster came up closer, his ears pricked up.

"This is Goliath," the Manhattan clan-leader said.

_"Goliath,"_ a childish voice said on the other line. _"How wonderful to speak to you again. Tell me, how are things on your side of the city?"_

"I didn't get on the phone just so that we could chit-chat, Vene…" Goliath growled lightly.

_"Oh, please,"_ Cecile Vene chided him. _"Call me Cecile! After everything we've been through together so far, I think we've both earned the right for a first-name basis." _

"What do you want, Cecile?!" Goliath demanded.

_"There now,"_ the young woman's voice mocked. _"Now isn't that better? I prefer all business dealings to be done with a more pleasant manner. It's less professional, I admit… but more friendly." _

Goliath bared his fangs, as he clutched the phone to near-breaking point. Angela had to hold his arm to keep him from shattering the thing altogether.

_"Anyway, like I told your pet-Fey,"_ Cecile carried on, sounding bored. _"I met up with a new stranger tonight. Being a Vene, my family can always sense when something enchanted gets within close proximity of us. I managed to summon him, just to get a better look, but… Well, let's just say he took offence." _

"Was it the Entity?!" Aster suddenly shouted past Goliath, speaking down into the phone. "How did you summon him? How much power d you have? Do you think you can destroy him…?"

Goliath held out his giant claw, grabbing Aster's beak and slamming it shut, along with a fiery glare.

_"Someone sounds intrigued,"_ Cecile's voice answered.

"Never mind him," Goliath said, still holding onto Aster's beak. "You were saying… How did you summon the creature?"

"I didn't actually summon him so to speak. But I did manage to get his attention, just enough to get him to come to my spot. Once here, we had a small but delightfully enlightened conversation. Things got a little heated between us, I admit, but nothing that I couldn't handle… " 

"Shame," Lex muttered, gaining a small elbow in the ribs by Brooklyn as he did so.

"We had a small scuffle, and I will admit that this… Entity as you call him, put up a good fight, more than what I was expecting, but I was still able to emerge victorious." 

"How?!" Aster demanded, and for once Goliath was on the same wavelength with him, also wanting to know the answer.

A small pause came on the line, and Goliath swore he could feel the smirk on the Vene's face even from wherever they were now.

_"If you want to know that," _she said snidely. _"Then we should talk in person." _

"When?" Goliath asked suspiciously.

"We are at the Bedford Hotel. Be there on the roof in one hour. We will talk more then."

The click on the other end signalled the end of the call, and Goliath fumed as he looked down on the phone. "Angela," he indicted his daughter and other members of his clan. "You and Brooklyn will accompany me to this hotel."

"And me," Aster insisted.

Goliath was about to protest, but the glare he got from his biological Grandson soon silenced him. "Very well, but be on your guard… The Venes are not to be trusted, no matter what."

Aster nodded.

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**Bedford Hotel; One Hour Later:**

Goliath, Angela, Brooklyn and Aster made their way to the Bedford Hotel. Aster seemed to take a few moments every now and then to view his surroundings, probably checking for any inconsistencies from his own world, or countless others he had been to before now.

"Amazing how everything looks so alike from way up here," he mused.

"Pardon, Aster?" Angela asked, gliding up close to him.

"Nothing."

"We are here!" Goliath called back to them, as they approached the hotel, where sure enough the Venes were waiting for them, or at least one of them was.

Angela suppressed a snarl, as she saw Thailog standing there, waiting for them along with the young female Vene, Cecile. Though funnily enough, Thailog didn't offer them one of his usual cocky smiles, or looks of arrogance. In fact, he looked downright miserable. But Angela wasn't too concerned with him at the moment… no one was. He wasn't the main problem there

Cecile Vene gave them all a seemingly pleased smile, as they all landed. But they knew better than to trust her facial expressions.

"Delighted to see you all again," Cecile greeted them. "Forgive my brother's absence, but I thought it best to leave them out of tonight's negotiations. I love them, but they have a tendency to transform people that they dislike, which can make these dealings a little bit complicated."

"What do you have on the Entity?" Aster asked immediately.

Cecile cocked her eyebrow at him. "Well now," she said, cocking her head thoughtfully. "What have we here? I don't recall seeing your face before, and I'm pretty sure I would remember ever having seen a Gargoyle with a blue beak before."

"He is not who we're here to discuss," Goliath said, stepping in-between them. "His name is Aster, and he asked you a question."

"Ah, so the stranger is called the Entity then, is it?" Cecile smirked. "A simply yet mysterious title… I like it."

"What… do you know?" Aster repeated, this time his voice low and dangerous.

Cecile gave him a cold look, but in the end she relented, revealing all that she knew.

"I contacted my resources," she explained. "They have more experience than I do with other worldly beings. They told me that the Entity, as you call him, is one such that exists outside time and space. He doesn't exist in any… "

"I know all this!" Aster said agitated. "He doesn't live in the same timeline that we mortals do, so he is able to change history, but in doing so he ends up destroying our whole reality because of it!"

Cecile glared at him a little. "Try opening your beak a little wider the next time you speak," she said simply.

"How do we kill him?" Aster ignored her, asking his next question right away.

Cecile shrugged. "You can't," she answered simply.

Aster's face lost whatever sense of reason it had then, and looked dangerously at her. "That's… _not_ possible!" he hissed.

Cecile just shrugged. "From what I've heard, it is. But don't worry… there are worse things than death, you know." A small smile curved its way across her lips. "I should know… My family made a career out of causing most of them in the past."

"How do we take him down if we can't kill him?" Brooklyn asked.

Cecile sighed. "Why is it people are always in a rush to move through the proceedings?" She looked at him. "Very well, but keep in mind I do expect something in return for my favours."

Goliath thinned his eyes at her. "What kind of something?"

Cecile smiled. "Arthur's sword, Excalibur, will do for a start."

Goliath growled fiercely. "You will never lay a finger on that sword… ever!"

"Then you have just lost your one chance to save your planet!" Cecile barked back. "Tell me what's more precious to you… Saving the life of every wretched soul on this world, including those of your clan, and your wife. Or loosing one simple blade?"

Goliath never ceased his never-ending glare at her, but before he could speak again…

"When would you like the sword?" Aster spoke up.

Brooklyn, Angela and Goliath all stared at him in shock and astonishment.

"Aster!" Goliath hissed. "We are NOT exchanging Excalibur for any reason!"

"Not even to save everyone!" Aster retorted. "You heard her… unless we… "

"This discussion is at an end!" Goliath roared, and moved his glare back to the young Vene. "We will not deal with you, Vene. Your time has expired."

With that, he turned and prepared to walk away, with Angela and Brooklyn right behind him. Aster on the other hand just stayed where he was, staring at Goliath's back dangerously.

"And do you agree with your leader's decision, young one?" Cecile asked coyly.

"Aster," Goliath said seriously, giving the young warrior a hard stare, but Aster would not look at him.

After a few moments, Aster seemingly relented and followed the others off the rooftop, gliding back to the Eyrie.

"Well, that could have gone worse," Thailog muttered.

Cecile just watched them go, seemingly uncaring. "It makes no difference," she said confidently. "The clan don't have the means to defeat this enemy. They have no choice but to cooperate with me, or loose whatever chance they have at victory."

"And suppose even if they do cooperate," Thailog pointed out. "By the time they come round, it might be too late to fight the Entity. And if he wins, then everyone looses. Your and your whole family included."

Cecile scoffed. "My family has survived the worst of times in history. It will be no different this time."

"Take care, Miss Vene," Thailog warned. "Arrogance can cloud one's judgement. Everything might just happen as you foresee, but there's no guarantee of that. Do you really want to risk total destruction just so you can get your hands on one little blade, as you so affectionately put it?"

Cecile just turned around and made her way back to the door, to go back to her quarters. "For power, my family would do and risk anything," she simply replied.

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**Eyrie Building:**

"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU JUST DO?!!!" Aster exploded at the Manhattan leader.

Goliath growled lowly at the young upstart, wondering where he got off at speaking to him so. The rest of the clan all stared at the two of them. "Aster," he said calmly. "You do not know the Venes as we do. They would betray us at the first given opportunity, and who knows what chaos they could cause with Excalibur in their possession…."

"At least there would be a world for them to cause chaos in!" Aster continued, his rage still consuming him. "Because of you, the Entity might very well rain through this world and leave nothing! Nothing but my memories!"

"We will find a way to defeat your enemy, Aster," Goliath insisted. "But we will do it without the Venes' help!"

"Do you think I care about your pitiful vendettas, Goliath?" Aster said chillingly, his eyes bordering on silver-white. "Do you honestly think I care what's going on in your world at this very moment?"

Goliath met his glare with one of his own.

"You could be fighting for your whole clan's future for all I care, and I wouldn't give a damn! Once the Entity is finished here, all of your whines and cares will be for nought. And I will have to live with the memories of watching the Entity destroy yet another world!"

"I understand your frustration, Aster!" Goliath snarled. "But there is nothing to say that the Venes will be any better than… "

"Can these Venes destroy entire worlds, Goliath?" Aster suddenly asked, making Goliath pause. "Wipe out their entire lives, without even a memory of a single person to remember them by?"

Goliath opened his mouth, but could not answer.

"Thought not!"

Goliath mentally shook himself, and snarled back at the young Gargoyle. "This discussion is at an end, Aster! We will do whatever we need to save our world, and to aid you in your battle against your enemy, but to do so we will NOT endanger ourselves by allying ourselves to _our_ enemies."

Aster glared at the Manhattan leader, but finally seemed to relent, and stormed right out of the Great Hall.

Goliath sighed. "As if we didn't have enough to contend with, now I have an over-anxious, battle-ready teenager to deal with."

"I'd hardly call him a teenager, father," Angela said, moving closer to him. "He maybe young, but… he's been through so much, I doubt there's any childhood left in him, not even the memory of it."

Goliath shrugged. "Perhaps."

"Maybe I should go talk to him?" she suggested.

"No, just let him have some time to himself for now," Goliath replied. "Wait until he's calmed down, and then go speak to him if you wish. But he must learn that not everything has to happen according to him and his desires."

"I know," Angela nodded, but looked unsettled. "But this is far more than just his simple desires, father. You know what he's been through, what he's lost… I don't know. Maybe we should consider trading with the Venes… "

"No, Angela!" Goliath said firmly. "The Venes are not to be trusted, as you well know."

"Maybe one of us should speak to the lad?" Hudson suggested.

"Who though?" Brooklyn asked. "I mean, I don't think the guy has any respect for anyone. Who would he listen to?"

"Well… " Angela began. "There's always you."

"Me?" Brooklyn said, looking surprised. "Why the hell would he talk to me?"

"Well, you're technically his father," Lex interrupted. "You've both got the same attitude problem, and… "

"Hey, what attitude problem?!" Brooklyn yelled.

Lex cringed, smiling sheepishly at his rookery brother.

"Look," Goliath interjected. "Brooklyn, I honestly think you might be the best chance we have at reasoning with Aster. You and he are more alike than you might think."

"We share a beak, that's all," Brooklyn argued. "Well, he may have my good looks, too, but that doesn't count…"

"Brooklyn!"

The clan's second frowned. "All right, all right," he said in defeat. "I'll do it."

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A few minutes later, Brooklyn went out of the main hall to find Aster. He soon found him at the battlements, overlooking the city, a seemingly favourite pastime of his.

"Into the jaws of death…" Brooklyn muttered, and made his way over. "Hey, Aster!" he added cheerfully. "How's it going?"

Aster spared him a glance. "So they've sent you to try sort me out then, huh?" he said, turning back his head.

Brooklyn groaned. "Yeah, yeah, don't rub it in. I didn't exactly volunteer for this job, you know."

Aster smirked. "Boy, they really picked the wrong guy for the job, I can tell you."

"Hey!" Brooklyn said indignantly. "I'm not that bad!"

"No, I didn't mean that," Aster assured him. "You… that is, the Brooklyn in my world was not exactly someone who could get me to do as I'm told, if you get my drift?"

"I wasn't here to do that."

"No, but you are here to try and get me to agree with what Goliath's doing, aren't you," Aster said, giving him a hard look.

Brooklyn opened his beak, and shut it again. "Yeah, okay," he said, spreading his arms and folding them back to his side. "Look, I admit Goliath's a bit of a stick in the mud, but his heart's in the right place. He's rarely ever made a rash decision without first considering all the consequences. And he's always had our best interests first before anything else."

"Not mine," Aster growled under his breath.

"Believe it or not, yes he has," Brooklyn said sternly. "Trust me. You do NOT want to mess around with the Venes. They are like three Demona's rolled into one family."

Aster smirked. "Nice to see some things aren't totally different. Every world I've been to, with countless other Brooklyn's, they all share one thing in common… Your total hatred of Demona."

Brooklyn shrugged. "Hey, it's not like she's the easiest one to get along with, you know. But anyway, we're not here to talk about my problems. We're here about you…"

"Forget it," Aster quickly said. "I've heard this song before from dozens of others across hundreds of alternate worlds, and I'm tired of it."

"Well, like it or not, you're gonna hear it again!" Brooklyn said firmly. "You said so yourself that you've never heard of the Venes. So you don't have a clue what they're like."

"You see one bad guy you see them all," Aster waved his claw at him, seemingly bored.

"Not like these guys," Brooklyn insisted.

"My enemy is a seemingly all-powerful entity with the ability to destroy entire universes," Aster sneered bitterly. "Can you say the same about yours?"

Brooklyn shrugged. "Dunno about the destroying universes bit, but it wouldn't surprise me. Seems that every time we get them figured out, they do something that completely takes us by surprise." He stared at Aster sympathetically. "Look, Aster, all joking aside… the Venes are definitely not the kind of people you want to make a deal with."

"Seems I don't have a choice, do I?"

Brooklyn sighed, and opened his beak to speak further, but Aster cut him off.

"Please, no more discussions," he said, staring hard at him. "As said, the decision's been made for me, so there's point in discussing it any further. Now please leave me!"

Brooklyn stood there for a while, but finally just sighed and turned to leave.

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**Bedford Hotel: **

Cecile lay on her bed, as Thailog gently massaged her feet, and sucked her big toe.

"Mmm, that's good," Cecile murmured. "You would make an excellent pedicurist, you know?"

Thailog smiled, but inside he was working hard not to gnash his fangs together and bite off her whole toe in his mouth.

Suddenly, the phone rang.

"Yes?" Cecile said, answering the phone. She listened for a few moments, her face clearly showing interest. "All right, just let me know the time and place, and we'll do business." She hung up.

"Who was that?" Thailog asked.

Cecile grinned. "Seems like someone in Goliath's clan isn't too happy with his leadership skills, because someone there wants to make a deal… our aid in return for the sword."

**To Be Continued… **


	4. Chapter 4: PART 26

All the characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyright Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company.  
No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder.  
All original characters are the property of Storyseeker.1.

_**I'd like to thank Kellie Fay for her permission to use her character, Aster. And for being kind enough to check my work, and also an extra special thanks for letting me use, and making some changes on one of her scenes from her original fic for my own story! Many thanks!**_

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**Three Nights Later; Secret Location; Late One Night: **

Brent Maza, aka the notorious cat burglar known as 'Lightning', stood where he was, checking his watch. His contact had asked to meet up tonight.

"Just once," Brent muttered, "I would like to meet up somewhere like an office, with a small lamp and a heater. It's hardly much to ask for, is it?"

"_Lightning?" _a shrouded voice asked.

Brent looked up in surprise. Few people were known to ever sneak up on him. He must be slowing down.

"That's what they call me," Brent replied, peering at the shadowy figure in the darkness. He didn't bother trying to make out the features of the individual, as he knew from experience that like most of his other contacts, this one no doubt wanted to keep their identity a secret.

"So how can I help you?" Brent wasted no time, asking what the job would be. "Keep in mind, I do have some protocols or rules that I play by. If I don't like your offer, then… "

"_I know all about your job protocols, thief,"_ the figure snapped, but then added more softly. "_In a way, I admire you for it. There are few thieves who care anything about honour, and stealing from the poor. However, the ones I have in mind are anything but innocent." _

"Well then," Brent nodded. "Doesn't seem there'll be a problem. So what is it that you want me to do?"

The figure dropped an envelope onto the floor, and slid it over to him. Brent picked it up, opening the envelope and reading its contents.

His eyes widened in surprise. "You've… got to be kidding me???" he stared at the shadow in disbelief.

"_I never kid,"_ the figure replied.

"Sorry," Brent said almost regretfully. "I'd like to help out, but there is no way that I am… "

"_Perhaps,"_ the figure interrupted. "_A small deposit?"_ The figure slid another envelope across the floor.

Brent picked up the second envelope, quickly scanning through its contents. His eyes widened even further.

"That's a lot of O's," he whistled slightly.

"_And there will be even more in it for you, if you fulfil your part." _

Brent sighed. "Look, don't think I'm not tempted, but… the target you're after. They're like waaaaay out of my league. Should I fail, not that I ever have, but still, there's no telling what these guys will… "

"_All will be taken into consideration,"_ the figure promised. "_But you yourself said that you only go after the ones who deserve it… Don't you think these 'people' deserve some form of reckoning?" _

Brent frowned, chewing his lower lip in thought.

"What do you have in mind?" he finally asked.

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**Bedford Hotel; Few Hours Later: **

Thailog sat on the floor with his legs crossed, his clans clenched on his lap, his mouth slowly murmuring some faint words, and his closed eyes twitching like crazy.

"Come to me," he said silently, repeating it over and over again.

"Thailog!" Cecile ordered, striding into the room.

Thailog almost leapt out of his skin, as he scrambled off the floor. "Cecile, I was just…" he began.

"Save it, Thailog," she said bemused. "I may have a lot on my plate right now, but I know whenever a spell or ritual is performed in my home. I should do, considering my family practically wrote the books on them."

"I don't know what you're…"

"Your little visits into your girlfriend's dreams," Cecile sneered. "Or did you think I wouldn't notice all the time you seem to be taking lately in every task I set you, or the amount of time you take whenever you 'chill out', as my brothers would say."

Thailog's face darkened. "I-I-I… " For once, Thailog was drowned for words.

"Oh, don't bother," Cecile waved her hand at him. "I haven't the time to care about your nightly visits to the fair Miss Lana. Time is not on my side! My father wishes us to have the sword Excalibur so that he may examine it, and drain it of its power. If we don't… Well, let's just say that Daddy doesn't have a great deal of patience or mercy when it comes to failure."

Thailog smirked a little, hiding it from Cecile's sight, remembering the time when she had spoken to her father on the phone, and he had ignited her hair with just a simple spell.

"What you want to do with your former flare is none of my concern," Cecile continued, not noticing his look. "If you wish to waste your time disturbing the girls' dreams just to get yourself lucky, then that's your decision. Right now, listen!" She neared him, looking serious. "Tonight, I have been working on a deal that should secure our rights to the sword. If it all goes to plan, we should have the sword perhaps as soon as within the next few days."

"So what's the deal you made then?" Thailog asked curiously. "And why wasn't I informed of it?"

Cecile gave him an almost pitying look, which only surged Thailog's already heated temper. "What makes you think you were needed? In fact, when are you ever needed, _precious_?"

Thailog grinded his fangs, hoping to remain in control least he leapt out and attempted to strangle the young Vene, knowing full well that such an act would most likely earn him a transformation into something such as a cockroach or a rat.

"I have gained us a few more able warriors to aid us," Cecile explained. "They will serve as a great asset to us in the near future, but for now we should deal with the clan's new enemy."

"Do you still believe the clan will come to us for help?" Thailog asked, unbelieving.

"I believe that in time even they will come to accept the futility of going up against this creature on their own," Cecile boasted confidently, but then added more soberly. "But sadly though, we may not have the time to wait. Whatever this creature has come to our world for, I fear time may be on its side."

"So what do you intend to do?"

"We cannot risk waiting for the clan to come to its senses," Cecile reached into her chest, pulling out a few items. "Who knows what the creature will do in the meantime. But we cannot risk loosing the only foothold we have on the clan for Excalibur. Therefore, our only course of action is that we must postpone the creature in whatever it is planning. We will send out a few monsters for it to battle, some enchanted weather to bang it about a bit, and the odd curse or two. Hopefully, this will postpone it long enough for the clan to come through."

"Suppose they find a way to defeat the creature by themselves?" Thailog suggested. "The clan are hardly without resources, Cecile. Xanatos himself is a member of a secret society called the Illumaniti, which has more information on any spell, ritual or curse in the world, along with countless other things as well."

"Yes, I know of the Illumaniti," Cecile scoffed. "My family is what gave them most of the mystical knowledge they have. Whatever they can give to the clan is nothing we can't do, and nothing that can help them."

"What about the Fey, and Demona?" Thailog said. "She had been around a long while, with tremendous knowledge."

"Again, nothing that threatens us," Cecile continued. "No single being, or even a entire race possesses the same level of magic as my family does. We cannot fail!"

Thailog sighed. "If you say so."

"And anyway," Cecile said, thinning her eyes dangerously at him. "What did I say about your reference to me? Have you forgotten already?"

Thailog moaned. "My apologies… _mistress_."

Cecile smiled. "Better. But now come, I want to show you our future new friends."

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**Eyrie Building; Next Night: **

Aster sat idly picking at his talons, as he swung his leg over the side of the battlement he was sitting on. He stared at the flickering lights below, like a billion stars that had fallen from the sky to be one with the earth.

"Beautiful view, isn't it, lad?" a rough Scottish tongue spoke.

Aster sighed, fearing another lecture coming on soon. But the one who was delivering this lecture was definitely one he didn't fancy speaking to.

"It's nice," he agreed simply.

Hudson came up slowly to the battlements, admiring the view. "I did not take too well to it at first," he continued. "All the bright lights, the loud noises, and the size of it all. It was a long way away from the world I knew at Wyvern. I was almost inclined to spend the rest of my nights here at the castle than spend one night out there. But, once you get used to it, it can be a most wondrous and enchanting spectacle."

Aster turned to look at him, but then quickly turned his head away. No matter how many times he saw a different Hudson, or how often he kept reminding himself that this wasn't _his_ Hudson… it still hurt him to look upon his face. For every time he did, he was constantly reminded of the way his Hudson's spirit face had looked when the Entity had sucked him into oblivion.

"I'm not staying here," he said finally. "I thank you for the invitation, but my place is not here in this world."

Hudson looked at him with his one good eye sadly. "Then where is your place, lad? Death, oblivion?"

"Maybe, I don't know!" Aster swung his leg around, angrily striding away. "It's not as if I've had time to consider it."

"Death is never the answer," Hudson reasoned "Life is!"

"But what good is life when all the ones you love are taken from you?" Aster countered. "I listened to the voices of my dearest friends, my clan and the rest of the world as they died, as the world around them was punctured and fell in on itself. I live with those thoughts every moment of my life. I have no peace, not even in my dreams."

"I know you have been through so much pain, Aster," Hudson replied. "We all have. Even with the new life I have made in this new age, my heart still aches every time I think of my brothers and sisters who are no longer with us. Every night I find myself asking Fate why all the young ones of my clan had to die while I, the elder of my clan, survived. And every night, I have no answer."

"And every night I ask myself why my entire world had to die!" Aster shot back. "It's not the same thing, Hudson! You had Goliath and the others to help you live again. I have nobody! My life is over!"

"Only if you say it is, Aster. As long as you live, the memory of your clan, your entire world lives on. But if you die, then all that remains of them will truly be dead."

"_How charming," _a shapeless voice spoke out.

Aster spun around, his eyes flaring white-silver.

"Such emotional and clear sentiment," the Entity grinned at them both. "It makes me almost want to cry… **almost**." 

Aster snarled, looking ready to pounce.

"_I must say you truly astound me, Aster," _the Entity said, keeping his gaze on the young warrior, but paying no heed to the elder Gargoyle whom even now had his sword drawn and pointed to the Trans-dimensional entity. "_I never would have thought you'd stay with me for so long. I honestly thought you would have been dead long before now." _

"What can I say?" Aster half-smirked. "I was never one to give up so easily."

"_Yesss,"_ the Entity continued grinning. "_Pity you didn't fare so much on your own world, isn't it?" _

Aster roared, and pounced on his enemy.

The Entity made one swift wave of his hand, or what posed as his hand, and instantly shot all the way across the courtyard, to the other side.

The Entity was in the form of something that could pass as the Grim Reaper, a seemingly humanoid shape made of dark mist, with the exception of a bony hand, and its face partly covered up by more darkness.

"_Temper, temper," _the Entity taunted the young warrior. "_I am merely here to talk." _

"Sounds more like taunting to me," Aster sneered, but held back when Hudson came up to him, holding his shoulder. The elder knew that Aster couldn't afford to let his anger cloud his judgement, not with an enemy like this one.

"_I wish to make a deal." _

Aster thinned his eyes, and stared at Hudson before looking back to him. "What kind of a deal? In fact, what could you possibly offer to me that I would actually want from you?"

"_Your world!" _the Entity replied.

Aster grinded his fangs, wanting very much to hurt someone or something, mostly the Entity. "I may not be an all-powerful sorcerer, creature! But I know full well that not even you can bring back the dead, let alone an entire reality to life!"

"Suppose if I told you that I could. Suppose I told you that I could reverse time to the point where I altered the timeline in your reality, bringing with it the destruction of your homeworld?"

Aster stared at him blankly. "I would say that you are lying," he replied simply. "But even if what you say is true… Why would you do something like this for me?"

"_I have a hard enough time as it is, wandering through numerous worlds and other dimensions, finding new souls to feast upon. I don't need some one-man vendetta after my blood as well… if I had blood that is of course." _The Entity stared at him hard. "_The spell is hard, but possible. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity, Aster, and one that I will not make again…I will give you the means to return home to your own time and place, and in return you shall forget you ever saw or knew of me, and I will finally be left in peace. If you do not accept my offer, then you can spend the next few decades of your life hunting me, and be aware that someday you __**will**__ fail. It is only a matter of time." _

Aster continued staring at the Entity blankly, his face totally expressionless. He turned to look at Hudson a couple of times until finally he looked back at the Entity and said… "Many thanks for the offer, but frankly… I'd rather kiss my grandmother."

The Entity snarled. "_This was your only chance to go home, Aster! Now you have no hope of ever returning! Tonight, you blew your one and only chance… remember that!" _The Entity' voice echoed around them, as it faded from sight, its shadow melding into the night.

Hudson looked a little surprised at Aster. "You turned him down?"

Aster shrugged. "Don't think I wasn't tempted, Hudson, but… that thing is not known for its honesty. At the very best, it probably would have dropped me in some alternate world that was very closely similar to my own, and I'd never know the difference until it was too late and I'd never find him again."

"But…" Hudson looked unsure. "Suppose he had been telling the truth?"

Aster looked at the spot where the Entity had been a few moments ago, his face unreadable. "He never does," he said finally, and walked inside. "We have to speak to Goliath!"

00000000000000000000000000

**Eyrie Building; Great Hall; Half An Hour Later: **

After revealing the Entity's offer to the rest of the clan, Goliath gave Aster a hard stare. He knew the Entity and Aster were deadly enemies, but he also knew that Aster's heart must surely ache for his own clan, and found it difficult to believe that he refused the offer.

"I know what you're thinking!" Aster said agitated. "Like I told Hudson, the Entity isn't one to be trusted… ever! So I'd be damned if I'd ever believe him about anything."

Goliath opened his mouth to speak, but Elisa's warm touch on his arm stopped him, as he looked down into her sympathetic eyes.

"That's all right, Aster," she said calmly. "You don't have to explain yourself. But we must ask precisely 'why' the Entity would make this offer to you in the first place? I mean, why would he make this offer now after so long of you trying to track him?"

"Obviously he's beginning to worry," Broadway suggested. "Maybe he caught us talking with the Venes? Everyone knows they've got a lot of power, so if he saw us with them then he might be worried that with their help we might be able to defeat him."

"Which is precisely why we should be allying with them in the first place!" Aster said hotly.

Goliath spared him a sharp glare, but said nothing. Angela had by then already placed her clan softly on Aster's shoulder in an attempt to calm him. It didn't do anything to soften his glare at Goliath, but he kept his beak shut from then on.

"Have we heard anything from Darlene… or Demona?" Goliath then asked. Despite the amazing changes Demona had gone through since the return of her daughter Darlene, Goliath still found it hard to talk about her, and even harder to include her in conversion.

Angela shook her head. "Darlene couldn't come tonight. She sends her apologies, but… Well, there seems to be a problem with Lana."

"Problem?" he asked, concerned, as it had been a few nights now since they had last seen Darlene. She always said she was busy with 'things' at home.

Angela shrugged. "She wasn't specific on what was actually wrong with her, but she said that she and mother were dealing with the problem."

Goliath nodded, but deep down he found himself frowning in worry. If nothing serious was wrong with Lana, then why was Darlene not here, and he had never known Darlene not to keep anything from them, particularly if the problem wasn't serious.

"Gabriel?" Goliath asked his daughter's rookery brother. "When you were last at Demona's home, did Lana seem all right to you?"

Gabriel seemed uncomfortable, as he stared down at his feet-claws, not meeting Goliath eye to eye.

"Gabriel, do you know something?"

Sighing, Gabriel looked up, his eyes filled with worry. "When I was last at Lana's home, she… she wouldn't see me."

"Why?" Goliath asked, confused. He thought the two youngster's relationship had been progressing well.

"When I went to see her…" Gabriel began, but paused, looking very, very uncomfortable. "I thought things between us had been going well, but when she saw me a few nights ago… she locked herself in her room and refused to come out."

The rest of the clan looked at him in surprise.

"Did you do anything to frighten her, or make her nervous?" Goliath asked.

"Not unless you count saying 'hello' as making someone nervous," Gabriel replied. "I barely had enough time to even say that when she suddenly screamed and raced into her room. That was the last I saw of her, as her mother recommended that I stay away from her for now until they figured out what was wrong. I have yet to hear from them."

"That's odd," Lex whispered to Brooklyn. "What could possibly get Lana in a tiff enough to make her want to stay away from her boyfriend?"

00000000000000000000000000

**Destine Manor: **

Lana moaned, as Gabriel trailed his kisses down her belly.

"_Your skin is like silk, my beloved," Gabriel growled playfully at her, as he past his lips over her while caressing her legs with his giant claws. _

"_So… good," Lana moaned deeply. _

"_I know," Gabriel said, grinning, as his two large horns started to shrink into his head, and his skin changed colour. "But then… I always was," Thailog chuckled, bending over to kiss her again… _

Lana screamed, as she awoke.

"Lana!" Darlene shook her daughter lightly by the shoulders, urging her to awake more fully.

Lana cried out, burying her head in her mother's embrace. "Don't make me fall asleep again, please!" she begged.

Darlene strolled the back of her daughter's head, running her claws through Lana's delicate fair hair. She looked back at her own mother, Demona, her eyes misting.

Demona on the other hand looked more cross than anything, her face filled with frustration.

"Damn it!" she snarled, throwing the book she had been holding across the room. "By the Dragon's fangs, I…"

In an experiment to discover the reason behind Lana's nightmares, Demona had induced Lana to sleep with a sleeping spell, in an attempt to try and monitor her dreams and learn the cause of them.

"It's all right, Lana," Darlene said soothingly. "We've done enough for tonight. You stay here and try to relax. Your grandmother and I will find out what's wrong."

Lana slowly nodded her head, and reluctantly released her mother, as Darlene stepped out of the room with Demona.

"Well?" Darlene asked urgently.

Demona sighed. "The spell has revealed… nothing… All the spell did was make Lana sleep, nothing else. It could not find any reason or cause as to why she is having these nightmares, which means… "

"What?!"

Demona stared at her daughter in almost mock-pity. "How can one of my own flesh and blood, one whom I raised myself, know so very little?" she asked almost astounded. "I raised you in the mystic ways, Darlene. Have you forgotten your lessons completely?!"

Darlene frowned. "Mother, I'm sorry, but I am not in the mood for debates. I treasured each of your lessons whilst growing up, but I have had no need for them over the past 20 years, so I have not thought about them. You can hardly blame my memory for being hazy."

"Well, then think!" Demona scolded her. "I told you that my original spell would keep Lana's nightmares at bay, and it did, but for some reason now they started up again. I have checked it, but apparently the spell is still working perfectly. However, Lana is still having bad dreams, so what could be the problem???"

Darlene frowned in agitation. "If I knew that, don't you think I…!"

"If my spell is still working, but Lana is still having the nightmares, then there can be only one possible reason," Demona stared at her daughter hard. "And that is… these dreams that Lana's having, are not dreams at all! At least, not proper dreams."

Darlene blinked. "Not dreams… " she said in wonder, and then her eyes widened. "**Dream-Walking**!!!"

Demona gave a cocked grin with her mouth. "Well, well, so your mind does still remember at least some of my lessons then. Now tell me, daughter, do you remember what Dream-Walking actually is, or is your mind _still_ too hazy?"

Darlene gave her mother a bloody glare, but merely answered the question…

"Dream-Walking is a form of Astral Projection," she replied. "It is where a sorcerer can temporarily leave his or her body, and enter another person's mind through their dreams. Once in that person's dreams, they can control the dream with their own mind, to do anything they wish."

"Correct!" Demona snapped, her face cringed in anger. "And they can only do it when the person whose mind they wish to enter is asleep. Hence the reason why Lana is having these nightmares, and I doubt I will need to tell you just who could possibly be behind this little farce, daughter."

"Thailog," Darlene's normally sweet face was twisted into an almost exact duplicate of her mothers from over several years ago, filled with rage, hatred and the lust for vengeance.

"There's no point in wondering where he learnt magic from," Demona growled. "With so much magical knowledge in their possession, Thailog would have had no trouble at all in finding out all he needed to know about magic from the Venes!"

"Can you do anything to stop him?" Darlene pleaded.

Demona frowned deeply. "I don't know," she said honestly. "Spells on the mind are very complicated, with delicate magic." She bit her lip as she concentrated. "I could try putting up some mental blocks in Lana's mind, but there's no guarantee they will help. The Venes have access to some very powerful mystics, so who knows what kind of power Thailog used."

Demona stopped, as she noticed the distress showing on Darlene's face. "But don't worry," she said, trying to console her daughter. "I promise I will try my very best to undo Thailog's damage, and should I fail in that… I will personally see to it that he will never have the opportunity to do it again." Her eyes flared red, indicating her meaning.

A sound of feet-claws walking on the floor suddenly sounded near them…

"Mom?" Jarred's young voice called to them, and a few moments later he appeared around the corner.

Darlene sighed, smiling brightly at her son. "Yes, what it is, Jarred?"

"Mom, Griff's here again," he told her.

Darlene instantly lost her smile. "Tell him I'm a little busy right now, but I'll call him later."

"Okay, but can I talk to him for a little… "

"No!" Darlene said a little forcefully, earning a surprised look from her son.

Jarred stared at her weirdly, but said nothing, and just shrugged before leaving to go back to their living room where Griff had to be at.

Demona looked at her curiously, her eyeridge cocked.

"What?" Darlene asked, her tone indicating she wasn't in the mood for idle chitchat, especially considering the state her daughter was in.

"You've been avoiding your _boyfriend_ a lot lately, I've seen," Demona said, slightly bemused.

"He's not my boyfriend!" Darlene replied hotly.

Demona cocked her eyeridge again. "Testy, aren't we?"

Darlene sighed. "Oh, mother," she moaned. "I don't know what's wrong with me. Lately, I just haven't seemed to be able to keep a lid on my temper. Everything was going splendidly until Griff made that comment about me being his mate… "

"You're Griff's mate?!" Demona's eyes widened.

Darlene rolled her eyes. "No, mother, but he said I was… It was just a heat of the moment thing. I think he just got carried away when I was attacked, and just got protective and said it. I realise that now, but… Well, I don't know why, but I got reallllllly testy that night when he said it."

"Why?"

Darlene scratched her head, frowning. "To be honest, I'm not really sure. I mean, I like Griff, I really do. And in time, I believe I would love to be his mate, but… I don't know. I think I just reacted when he called me his mate, that's all."

"Was it because you were afraid?" Demona asked, her head cocked thoughtfully.

"Afraid, afraid of what?" Darlene said curiously, looking up at her mother.

Demona stroked her chin for a minute, and then moved to lean against the wall. "Did I ever tell you about what I did when your father asked me to be his mate?"

Darlene nodded. "You said you practically leaped up at the offer. I knew you had been alone for so long, and that you loved him a lot… "

"That's true," Demona admitted. "But it's not the whole story… There's more."

"What do you mean?"

"Before I met your father," Demona continued. "I had been alone for many centuries, my only comforting thought was that one night Goliath and I would be reunited. Then of course your father came along. By then, the centuries of grief and loneliness had long since gnawed away at my mind, so when he proposed to me, I naturally leapt up at the chance… It was only until a short time later that I began to reconsider… "

"Huh?" Darlene said, looking shocked.

"Oh, I still loved him of course," Demona assured her. "But… Well, when I accepted his proposal, it was, as you say, in the heat of the moment. I hadn't fully considered the implications of all that would happen after I had done so."

"Like what?" Darlene asked, interested.

Demona sighed. "Like I said, before your father came, my only comfort in life had been the belief that one night, Goliath and I would be reunited, but… Needless to say, once I would mate myself to your father, then that belief would be stained. I would be, as the humans say, 'moving on'. I would need to learn to say goodbye to Goliath and my past, something I had never been able to do. Plus, there was also the consideration that after so many centuries of being on my own, having no one but myself to answer to, and no one to question me… I would have to put all that behind me, and learn to co-exist with another, sharing all my decisions and such. I had by then long since become independent, so it was a little disconcerting that I would need to learn to become a little dependent from then on."

Darlene looked troubled. "What are you saying, mother?"

"I'm saying that… maybe when Griff said you were his mate, even if it was just a slip of his beak, it suddenly made you realise that you were moving on from your… " Demona grimaced a little, but had better sense than to show it in front of Darlene. "From your _mate_ Paul… "

"I accepted Paul's death long ago, mother," Darlene scoffed.

"I'm not talking about his death, daughter," Demona said, looking hard on her. "I'm talking about you accepting that you're moving on… Paul may be dead, but not in your heart. He was always there for you in your dreams and memories, so in a way he never truly left you. He was always there for you whenever you felt lost because you had no one else to turn to, but now… Now, you have Griff."

Darlene bit her lower lip.

"Tell me honestly," Demona said, looking at her. "Whenever you had a problem, back when you used to no doubt think 'what would Paul do?'… Tell me, do you still think that? Or do you just ask Griff?"

Darlene felt her eyes beginning to water up. "I still think about him," she finally said.

"But not as much as you used to, correct?"

Darlene looked up at her mother, tears starting to flood down her face. "I just feel like I'm betraying him somehow," she sniffled. "Paul was the love of my life, and even after his death I still thought of him constantly. And now, with Griff in my life… It feels like everything I went through to be with Paul, was all for nothing."

Demona frowned a little. She couldn't believe she was actually defending the memory of a dead human, even if he had been her daughter's mate.

"Just because we no longer think of someone as much as we used to, does not mean that we've forgotten them," Demona assured her. "Even after a thousand years, I still take comfort in the memories of my siblings whenever I am in grief, although I do not think of them as much as I used to anymore."

Darlene wiped her face. "It still doesn't feel right."

"Saying goodbye never does," Demona admitted bitterly. "Especially to someone you love, and when they were taken from you unfairly."

Darlene looked at her in sympathy. "Mother, I'm… "

"Don't bother, Darlene," Demona said quickly. "Just go and have a talk with your 'boyfriend' before he leaves."

Darlene smiled. "Thank you, mother," she said, and gave her mother a small kiss on the cheek before hurrying down the corridor.

Demona touched her own cheek briefly while watching her daughter race away.

"I suppose it could be worse," she muttered. "At least this one is a Gargoyle this time."

Darlene meanwhile had raced all the way to the Living room where she found Jarred talking to Griff.

"And then," Griff said. "I circled around the bomber, landed square on his tail and… Darlene!"

Darlene cocked an eyeridge at him, and then at her son. "I thought I said to come right back once Griff had left, young man?"

Jarred smiled nervously. "I just wanted to listen to more of his war stories, mom."

"Never mind that now," she told him. "Go and check in on your sisters. But be careful around Lana. She's been under a great deal of stress lately."

"When is she never?" Jarred muttered, earning a sharp look from his mother. "I'm gone!" he then said, and raced off.

"Darlene, look, I'm… " Griff began.

"Stop!" Darlene held her claw up to him. "Griff, before you say anything else, I need to say something… I'm sorry."

Griff blinked a little.

"I'm sorry for the way I treated you," Darlene continued. "I had no right to treat you the way I did."

"No, I'm sorry," Griff protested. "You were quite right to be mad at me. I shouldn't have gone and called you my mate like that. It was quite heartless of me to do so, what with your late husband and everything."

"No, I overreacted," Darlene sighed. "The truth is, although Paul's been gone from my life for a long time, he is still deep in my thoughts. I guess I never really got over him, and it never really occurred to me that I was moving on from him… When you called me your mate, I guess it just woke up something in me, and made me realise that I really was starting to think less and less of him… and it frightened me."

Griff looked at her sympathetically. "You can't blame yourself for not wanting to forget a late lover."

"No, but I cam blame myself for mistreating someone who is supposed to be my friend, friend to my children… and my boyfriend."

Griff blushed. "I think that's the first time you've ever called me such," he replied.

Darlene smiled, and opened her mouth to speak further when…

"_Gro-ff," _a small young-sounding voice spoke.

Darlene and Griff both turned in surprise, and found to their further surprise little Gem standing on her two legs, in the doorway, staring up at them with their wide innocent eyes.

"Gem?!" Darlene half-squealed in surprise. "You spoke!"

"Gro-ff," her youngest daughter repeated.

Darlene laughed a little, and then went forward to sweep her daughter up into her arms, shedding a little tear as she did so. "You spoke, you little genius! You spoke!"

She then stopped, and turned around to look at the English Gargoyle. "She said your name," she said, suddenly realising.

"You sure she wasn't just suffering from gas?" Griff said unsurely. The last time he checked, his name wasn't 'Groff'.

Gem giggled at the sight of the green hawk-like Gargoyle, holding out her arms to him, wanting to be held.

Darlene smiled, and carried her smallest child over to Griff, handing her over to his embrace, as Gem rubbed her face into his black-leather jacket.

"Quite sure," she said, still smiling. "If we ever needed anymore proof about you being more than a friend, we don't now."

Griff smiled, and tickled Gem under the chin. "That's the most… " he started. "Oh wait, blast it all!" he added, sounding angry.

"What is it?"

"I clean forgot," he continued. "I came here to tell you something. It's about the clan. There's been a lot of hullabaloo going on at the castle and around New York lately… "

00000000000000000000000000

**Eyrie Building: **

After Griff had gone to check in on Darlene and the others, the rest of the clan had waited at the castle. Goliath thought it best that they remain there for the time being, until they got their bearings, and had come up with a plan to battle the Entity.

"Puck…" Goliath began questioning the Fey in disguise.

"In this form, I am just plain old Owen Burnett, Goliath," the trickster turned Human replied.

Goliath growled under his breath. "Fine, _Owen_… Is there anything at all you can tell me about this Entity?"

Owen sighed. "Unfortunately, no. There have been multiple creatures and entities that have crossed over to our universe many times over the aeons. Although this Entity is a first, as with all the other visitors my kind were at least able to sense them. But this one, he completely avoided my senses."

"Another reason for us to take up the Venes' offer!" Aster's voice called out, as he came over to them.

"ENOUGH!" Goliath roared. "I won't hear this again, Aster. You may have had plenty of experience with this Entity, but none whatsoever with the Venes, which we have!"

Aster glared at him. "You…!"

Suddenly, a shout came from the end of the corridor…

"Goliath!" Xanatos' voice called. "You had better listen to this!"

"What is it?"

Xanatos approached the lavender giant. "I've just received word from my operations team, surveying all radio and television broadcasts, and there's been… some news."

"News?"

Xanatos nodded. "There have been some confirmed reports of Gargoyles, or at least some Gargoyle-like creatures, gliding over the city. Apparently, some of them have been swooping down and scaring the hell out of the public. So far, that seems to be all they're doing though."

Goliath's eyes widened. "All the clan are still here, are they not?!" he quickly asked.

Xanatos nodded. "As they were the last time you checked."

Goliath growled. "Demona… " he began, but Owen quickly interjected.

"Afraid not, Goliath," the major-domo reported. "Griff only rang us a few minutes ago. He reported that Demona and all her family are still at home, so it couldn't be them."

Goliath frowned. "The clones, or possibly the Mutates?"

"It would be highly against the Mutate's nature to do such a thing, and as for the clones… they never go out without the Mutate's permission, and they always go with an escort."

"How many sightings have there been?" Aster asked curiously.

"At least 5 so far," Owen replied.

"Aster," Goliath ordered the young warrior. "Go get Brooklyn and the others. We have no choice but to investigate this… "

"Oh, but for crying out… "

"NOW!" Goliath commanded.

Aster grumbled, but complied, making his way out of the Great Hall.

"Xanatos," the clan-leader turned to the CEO. "Get me all the information you have on these sightings. And Owen, I know you are banned from using your powers for anything besides in the training or protection of young Alexander, but maybe you could find a loophole somewhere, and see if you can find out what's going on. And for any information on defeating the Entity."

Owen nodded. "I will see what I can do." He said, as he turned to leave.

"Where were the sightings last reported?" Goliath then asked Xanatos.

"Just on the east side of Central Park, but where they are now… who knows?"

00000000000000000000000000

**Somewhere Over New York: **

Goliath, Hudson, Aster and the trio glided over New York City. Angela had remained behind with Bronx to watch over the Seer child, Sarah Foster.

"Nice to see some things never change," Aster mumbled under his breath. "Still going off to save the night, even when our own lives are the ones in danger, or when we have problems of our own to sort out."

"Something you wanna say, Aster?" Brooklyn suddenly asked from beside him.

Aster sighed. "No."

"Where did Xanatos say the Gargoyle sightings had been?" Broadway asked his leader.

"Somewhere over here," Goliath replied, as they glided near the outskirts of Central Park. "Be on your guard. We don't know who or what we'll be running up against."

"Who knows?" Lexington nudged his large rookery brother. "Maybe it isn't anyone we know… It might be some new friends."

Broadway snorted. "If it is, then these are some friends that I could do without… Xanatos said they'd been attacking and scaring people. With friends like that, we wouldn't need… " Before he could finish however…

"OOF!" Broadway wheezed, as something heavy slammed onto his back.

"Broadway!" Lex cried out, and soared after his brother… but then something slammed into him also.

"Hey!"

Aster growled, as his eyes took on their natural white-hot glare. "We're being attacked!" he roared to the others.

The others were quick to respond, as they took immediate evasive action. Goliath swooped down to the side, to evade his attacker. Brooklyn and Hudson did the same, while Broadway and Lex struggled with their attackers.

"Hold on, lad!" Hudson roared, as he withdrew his sword. "Help's coming!"

"_Aye, but who be helping you?"_ a gruff voice said to his side.

Hudson swung to his left, but was met with a hard fist. The voice however…?

The clan soon had attackers coming in at them from every side.

Goliath roared louder than he had ever done before, as something grabbed him from behind, but try as he might, he couldn't escape. Whoever this enemy was, he was as strong as he was…

"Brooklyn, to me!" he shouted to his second in command.

Brooklyn heard and obeyed, understanding. If they couldn't defeat their attackers separately, then they would just have to use teamwork. He slammed his own fist into his own attacker's face, and found to his surprise that he had a beak like him.

At first he was worried that maybe he had struck Aster by mistake, but he soon heard the clan's guest struggling with whoever it was that was on Broadway. But before he could take time to ponder this, he remembered his leader and raced off to help him.

Goliath and Brooklyn both growled, as they wrestled with the leader's mugger in mid-air. What they found really irritating was that they couldn't see their attacker's faces clearly, and Gargoyles were supposed to have excellent eyesight.

"Drive them to one of the rooftops!" Goliath ordered.

Lex grabbed his enemy's head with his feet, pulling him over his head and away from him. Wasting no time, he dived toward the nearest rooftop. He didn't need to look back though to figure out that his enemy was close behind him.

The others were in the same predicament, as they led their ambushers to the same rooftop. Maybe the fight would be better in their favour if they fought on solid ground?

They soon reached the rooftop, landing on its concrete surface, but for some reason they still could not see their enemies' faces clearly. Hudson himself though for sure that his one eye was now permanently failing, and was mildly relieved when he saw that the others were having just as much difficulty.

It wasn't that their attackers were invisible… more like blurred. It was like looking at them through a misty glass.

"Who are you?!" Goliath demanded, taking on a battle-stance, but still squinting his eyes to try and see them. The rest all did the same.

The attackers however were obviously not in the mood for talking, and growled ferociously at the clan, looking ready to attack again.

"Enough!" a voice suddenly shouted.

Goliath spun to his right, recognising the voice instantly… the voice of the eldest Vene child, Cecile.

"Sorry for the abrupt meeting, Goliath," Cecile said, coming out from behind one of the stonewalls, looking very pleased with herself. "But you know me… I always have a flare for the dramatic meetings."

Goliath snarled at her. "If your plan is to make us give you Excalibur with these… "

"Oh no," Cecile said, raising her hand to him. "I figure that once the Entity has beaten you to a pulp a few times, then you'll come round to your senses. No, these little darlings are just something I whooped up in the meantime to… keep me amused, so to speak."

"What are they?!" Goliath hissed, still squinting his eyes. "And why can't I see them?!"

"Oh that," Cecile said, sounding mildly surprised. "Sorry, forgot I left that spell on… I put a small spell around them, clouding their appearances to you. I thought it would be more entertaining if you had a good fight with them first before meeting them properly."

Cecile placed her hand into a small pouch at her side, scooping something that looked like powder. "Patefacio!" she yelled, throwing the powder at what were undoubtedly her newest toys, to her.

Her latest lackeys stood where they were, still growling menacingly at the clan, as the cloud of powder showered over them, and their appearances suddenly became sharper.

When the clan first saw them, they immediately thought one thing… 'clones!'

The attackers were exactly that of the clan themselves… Goliath, Hudson and the trio. But as Goliath examined them more closely, he realised deep within that these were definitely no clones. For one thing, they did not have the odd discolouring that the other clones had, and their facial expressions were definitely un-clonelike.

The clones, when the clan first met them, had also bore a menacingly expression, but they had also, and still did, bore a look of naivety, and almost stupidity. These ones did not.

There were also other things… for there were definite differences to the clan and these doubles…

The double of Hudson for example was not wearing as much clothing as Hudson was. In fact, he only wore a loincloth like the others, and did not carry a sword. Both of his eyes were intact and healthy, and he had a rather long and ugly scar that travelled all across his chest.

The trio were also different to behold. As well as having multiple scars around their bodies…

The Broadway double's ears were both tattered, as though they had been through a shredder, one of his front fangs were missing, and he didn't, unbelievably, have as big a gut as Broadway did. They were more or less the same mass as one another, except where Broadway mass was due to his obscene weight, this one was due to his incredible muscle.

The Brooklyn double had had one of his horns ribbed off, and his right eye was completely blinded, pure white with a long scar struck across it.

The Lexington double also had small scars all over him, but at first appeared no more different than the original, except… his left ear was missing. It looked as though it had been sliced right off.

And finally, the one resembling Goliath looked at first exactly the same as the clan's Goliath, aside from a small scar over his right eye. Other than that, they were completely alike.

"And no," Cecile suddenly piped up. "These aren't clones, in case that's what you all were undoubtedly thinking."

"What… is this, Vene?!" Goliath hissed at her, never taking his eyes off their fierce-looking doubles. It wasn't just their scars that separated their appearances from the clan, but the sheer look of ferocity and rage in their eyes also… Not even Goliath had been able to manage such a look before, even when he had been genuinely enraged.

Aster meanwhile just stood back, eyeing the whole scene with interest. Travelling as much as he had done among parallel universes, he was well familiar with alternate versions of himself and the clan, so this was no surprise to him.

"The Entity isn't the only one who knows how to fold into alternate worlds, Goliath," Cecile said, smiling. "But he, and your little friend over there, Aster, did give me the idea… Why not bring in some parallel versions of yourselves for you to play with?"

She looked over at the growling group. "Granted, they're not exactly your mirror images… at least, not your best sides anyway. But they do show off your clan in a whole new light… the darkness in you."

"You had them going around scaring the hell out of people!" Brooklyn snarled, never taking his eyes off his own double.

Cecile didn't stop smiling. "If you think that's bad… You should wait until they _really_ get started!" she said, laughing.

To Be Continued… 


	5. Chapter 5: PART 27

**_All the characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyright Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company.  
No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder.  
All original characters are the property of Storyseeker._**

This is the edited version of my fic. You can find the uncut version either at The Gargoyles Fan Website, or at the adult fanfiction website (adultfanfiction dot net).

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The clan stayed close together, never taking their eyes off their counterparts.

Their doubles were doing the same, and looked almost ready to attack.

Lexington couldn't help but stare at the Hudson-double. He couldn't remember Hudson much back when he had two working eyes, so it was a little odd for him to see him with two healthy ones again. But he also couldn't help but look at that damn ugly scar of his that went all across his chest. Whatever wound had caused that scar must have been atrocious. It looked like the top half of his body had been very nearly sliced off, and then sown back together with a blunt needle.

It was even harder not to stare at his own double… What on earth had happened to his ear??

"What have you done, Vene child?!" Goliath roared, rage overcoming him.

Cecile cocked her head at him. "What, senility already setting in, Gargoyle? I already told you, I brought these alternate versions of you and your clan from another dimension. Just something to spice things up a bit."

Goliath snarled, and made to take one step forward, but never made it that far before his alternate self snarled back at him. The way he did so made Goliath realise that this Gargoyle was just itching for a fight, and was liable to start one for any excuse. So he chose to stay back, not wanting to needlessly start one, at least not until he got some more information from Cecile.

'This is disconcerting,' Goliath mused, his eyes glowing. 'It's worse then battling with Thailog.'

"These Gargoyles are some bodyguards that I brought for myself," Cecile continued. "I brought them here to help out in case things got nasty between you, me, or possibly that new trans-dimensional thing that popped up around here. It doesn't hurt to be prepared, you know."

"And the humans that were needlessly terrified earlier tonight?" Goliath hissed at her.

She shrugged. "Hey, even a Gargoyle's gotta have some fun some time."

The clan in question smirked behind her…

Brooklyn grumbled beneath his breath. "Bitch."

'We definitely could do without this tonight,' Goliath thought, before shoving it from his mind and focusing on her. "What do you want, Vene?"

Cecile smiled. "Only what any girl my age wants… fun, and plenty of it!"

Her own personal clan sniggered, and the way they did so made Goliath chill a little in fear. There was definitely something not right about these Gargoyles, and it wasn't just that they looked like him and his clan, but the way they stared at them, the coldness and savagery in their eyes... It terrified even him.

'Like I said,' he thought. 'Worse than Thailog.'

"We won't let you terrify anymore innocents tonight, Vene!" Goliath swore.

"You're welcome to try and stop us if you can," Cecile smirked. "In fact, I was rather hoping you would."

"Fucking Bitch," Brooklyn growled.

Goliath growled, his eyes flashing white-silver, as he bared his fangs and claws at her.

Cecile clicked her fingers, and the counter-clan were there at her side, their talons hooked and their fangs bared as well.

"I knew you wouldn't disappoint me," Cecile sneered.

The counter-Goliath was the first, as he sprang at Goliath, roaring as he did so…

He was fairly simple to stay one step ahead of him, as everything he did was exactly what Goliath would have done. The only difference was that he fought with a sheer ferocity that even startled Goliath.

The rest of the clan soon joined in the fight, each going after his own double.

Lex couldn't help but remember the time when they had fought against their clones at Coney Island. But this was not like that time. The majority of the clones had been slow, dim-witted and stupid. All they had to do was use teamwork to defeat them, but somehow Lex didn't think that would be enough for this lot. They had a savage, barbaric look about them, but they were definitely not slow, nor were they stupid. And they definitely knew how to fight.

"Remember, these aren't clones!" Goliath shouted out to them all, as he fought his own counterpart. "They're us from a different reality! Just remember what you would do if you were in their situation!"

"Oh yeah, that helps!" Lex shouted back, ducking as his earless twin swiped at him with his talons. His tail lashed out, attempting to trip his doppelganger, but Lex's opposite self evaded the move, retaliating with a flurry of claws.

Goliath snarled, swishing his tail at his twin, striking him across the face. But all it did was anger the brute further.

The rest of the clan didn't fair too well either, as they attacked their mirror selves.

Hudson brandished his sword at his own, glaring white at him. While his twin just smirked.

"Too scared to fight me with your own talons, coward?"

Hudson snarled, but his sense of honour told him it would be cowardly for him to attack a foe that had no weapon of his own to fight with, while he had a sword.

He sheathed it, and leapt onto his foe, claw to claw.

The fight went on, and would have carried on longer if not for the police helicopter that started to near them.

"Damn!" Brooklyn swore, as he evaded his double's swipe.

"We must take leave!" Goliath ordered. "We can't let… UGH!" Goliath hissed in pain, as his dark side grabbed him in a headlock, crushing him, uncaring.

"What… are you… doing?!" Goliath gasped for breath. "We can't let the humans see us."

"You may be too afraid of the humans, weakling," the other Goliath replied. "But we are NOT!" He applied all his strength around Goliath's head until even Goliath felt sure that his head was about to burst from all the pressure.

"Let him go!" Brooklyn yelled, leaping away from his alternate self, ramming himself into the other Goliath.

Goliath felt himself drop onto the hard concrete floor, gasping as fresh air filled his lungs again.

"So you need your youngsters to help you, as well," his double sneered. "How pathetic you are!"

Goliath growled loudly, his eyes flashing. This time, the gloves were off.

He leapt onto his double, roaring louder than a lion, his talons and fangs seeking blood this time. Anyone who knew Goliath and had seen him at that moment would not have been able to recognise him. He tore into his dark double with an animalistic fury he'd never demonstrated before.

The sound of the police helicopter drew near, as each clan fought.

"Goliath," Lex called to his leader. "We can't stay here!"

Goliath swore, as he dodged another attack. Then with one almighty push, he shoved his counterpart right over the edge of the roof, and instantly retreated to the other side.

"Retreat!" he ordered. "We mustn't let the humans discover our presence here!"

The clan each delivered another blow to their own counterparts, quickly following their leader's example.

"Cowards!" the Hudson look-alike roared, racing after his own twin. "Come back and fight like a warrior!"

Hudson snarled at the 'coward' remark, but obeyed his leader's word nonetheless, leaping over the side of the rooftop.

His counterpart, however, was not ready to give up the fight just yet, and hurried after him over the side, his wings springing open to glide.

Unfortunately for him, he didn't notice the trio gliding around to him…

Broadway roared, as he dive-bombed on the extra-scarred Hudson, slamming onto his back, while Lex and Brooklyn tackled him from either side.

The aged warrior gave a loud "oof!" as Broadway's immense weight sent him crashing to earth. Brooklyn and Lex kept a tight hold on him from either side, steadying him as Broadway leapt off from him.

"We'll bring him with us," Brooklyn stated. "Something tells me we're gonna need all the info we can get."

The rest of the alter-clan roared, as they watched their elder being carried off by their enemies, and were about to take off after them when…

"This is the police! Stand down and surrender!"

The Goliath-double snarled at the hovering helicopter, his eyes wandering from side to side, resting on the helicopter crew with the large weapons and then on the retreating clan with their elder.

"There will be a reckoning!" he promised, hissing loudly.

"Stand down!" he ordered his three young warriors, stopping them from taking flight after them "We will face them another night… Retreat!"

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**Destine Manor: **

Darlene busied herself, as she washed Gem's bowl, wishing that more of the food that had been in the bowl had wound up in Gem's stomach instead of on her face.

She dropped a small fork, and bent over to pick it up.

A low whistle came up from behind her, startling her.

"That's why I love coming round here," Griff said, grinning at her. "I always find something pleasing to look upon."

Darlene smirked, throwing the towel at him. "I thought you were telling Jarred some more of your glory nights tales?"

Griff shrugged. "I thought I would take some time to come see how you were doing," he said, but something told Darlene that he was hiding something. It wasn't like Griff to shirk off from his stories, seeing as he loved telling them to Jarred.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Nothing's wrong, why would you think that?" Griff said hurriedly.

Darlene quirked an eye-ridge at him, bemused. "You know you're an even worse liar than I am, Griff. Just quit it and let me know what's going on."

Griff sighed. "All right," he relented. "I just heard back form the clan, there's been some more trouble."

"More?" Darlene asked, both in fear and a little in surprise. "Seems that troubles never come singularly."

"They rarely do," Griff admitted. "Apparently, the Venes have gotten themselves some new allies. They used their magic to bring in some kind of alternate version of the clan to aid them."

"Alternate versions?" Darlene asked. "You mean from a parallel world?"

"Exactly," Griff nodded. "From what Lex told me, they're like evil versions of the clan, all of them except Angela and Bronx."

Darlene moaned. "Wonderful," she muttered. "What happened?"

Griff shrugged. "The clan fought with them, and from what they were willing to tell me, they…. Now what is it that Jarred would say? Oh yes… Ahem, they got their 'butts' kicked."

Darlene smiled briefly, but then looked seriously at her beloved. "Was it really that bad?"

Griff sighed. "Well, it wasn't pretty. But then if this new clan are really just mirror versions of ours, then I guess we couldn't expect them to be lousy fighters… That would be too easy."

Darlene rubbed her head almost in pain. "Nothing ever is," she sighed.

Griff looked at her for a moment, and then embraced her. "Everything will be fine," he said assuredly.

"Tell that to the knots in my stomach," she moaned. "Look, you'd better get back to Jarred. He gets cranky if he's left at the cliff-hanger of a story."

"Sure," Griff replied, releasing and then bowing before her formerly. "As you wish, fair lady. Maybe I should ask your mother if she would like to join in? Since she lived through the war herself, I'm sure she could add in some… "

"No!" Darlene said forcefully, almost startling Griff. "Trust me, that will definitely not be a good idea."

Griff shrugged. "If you say so," he said as he turned to leave, but then paused, turning back to look at her curiously. "If you don't mind me saying so, Darlene… But you've always seemed a bit hesitant about your mother joining in any activities with Jarred and me. She doesn't still have a problem with me, does she?"

"Oh no, nothing like that," she assured him. "At least no more than any other mother would. It's just… Mother tends not to look at the past with any personal favouritism."

"Well, I can understand that," Griff agreed. "I mean, I know I sometimes make it out like the war was some grand adventure holiday, but believe me when I say it was nothing like that. I make sure Jarred knows that as well."

"It's not just that, Griff," she sighed. "My mother doesn't like anything of the past that has anything to do with humans. Anything to do with humanity, my mother blames them totally, even when some of it was even her own fault. She just won't admit it."

"I thought she had gotten over her hatred of humans?" he asked.

Darlene scoffed. "You must be joking," she replied. "She covers it up with a smile whenever the kids are around, but deep down she hates all humans just as much as ever."

"What about your kids? They're part human."

Darlene nodded. "Yes, and I've seen the way she is around them. She definitely loves them and all, but… Sometimes I think it's because she tends to blind herself to their human side."

"How do you mean?"

Darlene leaned on the washer, stroking a lock of her hair. "When my kids and I first came to live with her, mother was a little hesitant on being around them. I suppose we all were really, but she… Well, even today, whenever she's around them… Sometimes she's the perfect granny. She's warm and loving towards them, and she loves babysitting Gem. But then… "

"Yes?" Griff asked curiously.

Darlene sighed again. "Then something happens that changes everything."

"Like what?"

Darlene picked up another plate, drying it. "Little stuff really. When she's changing Gem, she notices that she has five fingers and toes, or when Lana used to go on about how cute some of her favourite boy-bands were, or even when Jarred talks about his dad… Each time they remind her that they are not full-blood Gargoyles, and whenever that happens she goes all stiff and cold. One time she even left Gem all on her own in the living room because she claimed she had an important phone-call to make to work, even though she never makes calls to work at night."

Griff stayed where he was, uncertain of what to say. "Well, I… "

"Don't get me wrong, Griff," she said hurriedly. "Mother really does love me and her grandchildren, I know that's true. She just… You have to understand, she spent over 1000 years hating humanity. That's not something you get over in just one night, or even in a few years."

"I suppose so," Griff said, unsure.

Darlene looked at him. "She has changed, you know." She promised. "Trust me, she won't be doing anymore killer-viruses or anything. Those days are long over."

From down the hall, in another part of the manor, Demona spoke into her telephone.

"Have you made contact with them yet?" she spoke.

"Not yet," a voice from the other end replied. "They seem reluctant to speak with me for some reason. Probably up to something. I don't tend to ask what they're doing, if they don't need me. I live longer that way."

"Well, get over it!" Demona snapped. "I need you to start worming your way into their good books. Find out everything they know, and be sure you're in a position to let me know when they go after the sword Excalibur."

"I know, I know, I got it!"

"Just make sure you don't blow this," Demona hissed into the receiver. "I offered you a king's ransom for this job, but if you fail… Not all the money in the world will buy you enough protection from me... Mr. Maza."

A loud hiss could be heard on the other end. "The name's Lightning, thank you very much, Miss Destine. At least when we're doing business."

"Fine, now first of all, I need some information on the Gargoyle living with them. The one called Thailog…"

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**Eyrie Building; Cell-room: **

The door to one of the cells opened with a clash, as Brooklyn hurriedly opened it, making way for Goliath as he came in, carrying the heavy form of the alternate Hudson.

Goliath heaved the aged warrior down onto the cell-bed, its hinges creaking loudly in protest to the Gargoyles' heavy weight, but remaining intact.

"The Hall," he said, ordering everyone out of the room. "Now!"

A few moments later, they had all assembled in the once Great Hall of Castle Wyvern. Each of them had a troubled look, but Hudson most of all.

"We must find out all that he knows," Goliath stated. "He has spent time with the Venes, with him we might… "

"Oh for the love of God, just forget about the Venes, will ya?!" Aster suddenly cried out, making everyone turn to stare at him. "Ever since I got here, you have done nothing but obsess about taking down these stupid Venes of yours! Has everyone forgot about the Entity I'm tracking, remember him? Trans-dimensional thing, can exist outside space and time, make your entire universe fold in on itself."

Goliath frowned.

"I kinda think he takes priority over your supernatural kids, don't you think?" Aster concluded.

"I do understand, Aster," Goliath replied. "But the Venes are… "

"Oh for…!" Aster slammed his fist on a wall, cracking it upon impact.

"Look," Brooklyn interrupted quickly. "How's about we deal with one problem at a time, okay? We don't even know where this Entity is at the moment, but we do have this guy in our dungeon. Let's deal with him first, then we'll sort out something with your guy, okay?"

Aster frowned, but nodded.

"All right, then," Brooklyn looked around. "Now… who's gonna be the one doing all the interrogating?"

Everyone just stood where they were, staring at one another…

"I'll do it," Hudson volunteered reluctantly.

Hudson made his way to the cells.

The young Sarah Foster had been moved to one of the guestrooms. She had assured them that the demon inside her was contained for now, but even so, Goliath had ordered Owen and Broadway to remain with her. If the demon did rear its ugly head then Broadway and Puck, to protect Alex, would be there to handle it.

He entered the cell-lined room, wincing a little as he saw his double pacing the floor of his cell. He looked like a caged lion, ready to leap out and tear anything to shreds.

His counterpart soon stopped when he heard him enter, and spared him a glance, eyeing him distastefully. "So my weakling twin has decided to pay me a visit, eh?"

Hudson growled, but didn't answer.

"What? Too afraid to talk to me?" he said mockingly.

"I fear nothing that's not worth fearing," Hudson said, coming up to the cell. "Especially one who's in a cage."

The twin growled loudly at him, but Hudson still would not turn away. They stayed standing like that for a minute or two, each eyeing the other until finally Hudson broke the silence…

"I wish to know," he simply said.

"Know what?"

Hudson sighed. "That is, I wish to understand… Just what was it that turned you and your clan into the savages you are tonight?"

His twin grinned savagely at him. "Ohhh, so you want my life story, eh? Well, never let it be said that I'm inhospitable. All right, you want a story, I'll give you a story… brother!"

Hudson growled lowly. "The name's Hudson!"

"And my name's Adhamh," his counterpart replied. "Now that we're properly introduced… Let's begin with my tale, shall we?"

Hudson scowled at him, but said nothing, and just sat down on one of the chairs provided, and listened…

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**Alternate Universe; 1000 Years Ago: **

_The guards of Castle Wyvern stood at the battlements, their spears, bows and arrows, swords and shields ready by their sides. There was almost not a single one among them whose legs weren't shaking with anxiety. One of the guards still had his bow and arrow out from over an hour ago… since sunset. _

_"Maybe they won't come?" one guard whispered to another. _

_"Aye, and maybe the sun will make an unexpected return within the next five minutes," his companion hissed at him. "Do you really think the bastards won't make good on their threat? They've been terrorising our home for months. It was only a matter of time before they made good on it." _

_"But do you think we'll stand a chance against them?" the first guard said, almost panicky. "The way I've heard, they've massacred every one of their targets… " _

_Before he could finish however, a loud roar thundered through the night, echoing on the wind, or at least that's what they thought at first. It turned out though that the first roar had been followed by the roars from countless others. _

_"THEY'RE HERE!!" the guard half-shouted, half-screamed. He unsheathed his sword, handling it nervously. _

_A snarl behind him made him jump around in fright, which proved to be his first and last mistake… _

_The gargoyle that had frightened him, a lean beast with rusty-red skin, a long thin beak and no hair, wasted no time as it pounced on him. He rammed into the young soldier, slamming him against the battlement wall. The guard's vision blurred from the knock to his head… _

_"Eyesight failing you, human?" the gargoyle sneered at him. "Here, let me help with that." He held out his claw over the guard's face. _

_The guard's face went white, and his eyes widened in fear, but before he could even open his mouth to scream… the gargoyle sent his two talons straight into the guard's eye-sockets. _

_His screams echoed throughout the entire castle. _

_The gargoyle then grabbed the guard's upper jaw with his other two talons, still keeping his other two in the guard's now empty eye-sockets. Then, with one almighty haul, the gargoyle ripped out the whole face of the young guard, leaving behind only the lower jawbone and a bloody window into the inside of the guard's head. _

_"There, now ye don't have to worry about failing eyesight no more, do ye," the gargoyle laughed. _

_All around, there were echoes of screams from both the servants around the castle and even the soldiers. Horde after horde of gargoyles came swooping down onto the battlements, their sharp talons raking across numerous faces… _

_An old and large, heavy-set gargoyle with a large scar across his chest landed on the battlements, his sharp eyes quickly scouting the area. His sight soon picked up two guards rushing out of the castle to help their soldier brethren. _

_The old one smiled darkly, and pounced… _

_The first guard only had enough time to make a small squeak of terror before the large gargoyle fell on him. The heavy gargoyle made sure to land straight on his chest, his huge weight caving the man's chest right in. _

_The second guard turned out to be none other than the Captain of The Guard himself. _

_He had a better chance, him being more mature to the ways of war, and wasted no time in unsheathing his sword and holding his spiked-mace up high, but still kept back, knowing better than to go rushing into battle unprepared. He took his time, studying the savage before him, anticipating his next line of attack... _

_The gargoyle he faced was old, but still very strong with years of battle experience at his talons. He could tell that by the large scar that covered his body. Its eyes flashed white as it circled him like a predator, growling deep within its throat. _

_The captain felt a cold drop of sweat sliver down the side of his head, as he waited in anxiety for the coming attack. _

_Sure enough, the gargoyle was quick to oblige… _

_It pounced, leaping high into the air, snarling as it made its way over to him, but the captain was quick. He leapt out of the way, swinging his mace around, nearly catching it on the beast's shoulder by less than a millimetre. The gargoyle responded after landing on the ground by swinging its tail, knocking the spiked weapon out of the captain's hand. _

_The captain hurriedly brought his sword around, striking at the gargoyle's head. _

_For such an old and somewhat overweight gargoyle, the scarred warrior was very fast for its age. He dodged the sword's blade, snapping his fangs at the captain, but there was no fury on his face. In fact, all that the captain seemed to see on the beast's face was pure glee. It was relishing in this fight, like how a starving wolf would take in hunting and devouring its kill. It yearned for this, like the battle was somehow its water or air. _

_They continued like this for a few more minutes, each striking their deadliest blows at the other, and the other always staying one step ahead to avoid their foe's death-strike. _

_"You're good for a human," the Gargoyle hissed at him finally. "No human has lasted this long with me before." _

_The Captain gave a snarl of his own, brandishing his weapon. "Let's finish this!" _

_"Glad to oblige!" the Gargoyle roared and rushed him. _

_The Captain yelled, as he charged forward… _

_The sounds that followed then were a combination of blade striking talon, roars and battle cries…followed by screams of pain and agony, echoing throughout the castle walls_

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**_One Hour Later: _**

_The Gargoyle, who would one day be known as Hudson in another universe, paced through the hallways of Castle Wyvern. He had no sword like his counterpart, only his own talons and fangs. He preferred to use just those when diving straight into a crowd of his victims. _

_As he walked through the endless corridors of the castle, he listened to the sounds around him, the roar of the fires and the screams of the humans who were either being raped, tortured, or just having their entrails ripped out. _

_Listening to them only made him feel more anxious. The night's battle had been far too easy for his liking, as it was more or less over now aside from a few cowering soldiers here and there around the fortress… The humans had put up almost no blasted resistance at all! _

_He had hoped to find someone who would give him a better fight like that captain had, but so far he had yet to find any who could come even close. _

_He smirked as he remembered the battle…how the captain had foiled some of his earlier strikes, only for him to be beaten down at the last second, his talons ribbing right into him, tearing him into ribbons. _

_The beast was now reduced to scouring the castle, seeking some of those cowering soldiers so that he could work off some of the tension and bloodlust that was even still building up in him, but there were none to be found. No doubt his young warriors had already found and dealt with them. _

_The rest of the clan were now busying themselves with reaping the fruits of their labour, by consuming the food and wine of the castle, together also with the servants… _

_"No!" a voice screamed down the hallway. "Get away from me, ye filthy beasts!" _

_The old leader recognised the voice instantly. He remembered it from one of the few dealings he had had with the former prince of this castle, the one who had seemed to be their friend, but had in fact stolen their home on the cliffs. _

_Prince Malcolm had come to them decades ago with the promise of building a new and more secure home for both their clans. It had started out well enough, but almost immediately after the castle had been finished, the humans had started revealing their true colours… _

_It wasn't so bad at first. The humans had looked at them with nothing less than cold fear, which had suited them well enough. Fear was the best that any gargoyle could hope for in terms of respect. But then, the humans had started acting more and more hostile towards them, insulting their lineage, treating them like dogs. Apparently, they weren't used to their 'wild' way of life… _

_The Gargoyles weren't used to living among humans, so they didn't know how to behave around them. Not that it mattered, as Gargoyles weren't known for making compromises. _

_The humans had complained and continuously yelled at them for all the roaring, drinking, boisterous laughter, and taunts that they played on them. The clan had taken great joy in tormenting them in that perspective, particularly when the humans annoyed them so. One night, a soldier had been joking around with his companion, insulting the clan's lineage, and the clan had taken that soldier, tied him naked and clinging right onto the backside of a horse, and sent the horse running off into the forest all night. (Some say this was where the word 'Horse-fker' originated from)_

_Finally, the humans had had enough when, one night; a couple of young gargoyles had made passes at a young milkmaid, giving her a torn dress as a result… The following night, when they awoke, they found themselves with a few less clan-members. _

_Someone had ordered their clan to be shattered during the day. Malcolm had sworn it wasn't he, but someone who must have conspired against him. Whether this was true or not didn't matter because they took out their vengeance on him. He survived, though with only half a face, and the guards had attacked them, driving them out of their own home. _

_Since then, the clan had sworn to avenge themselves against not just Malcolm and the humans of Wyvern, but against all humanity. They had spent the next couple of decades travelling the country, attacking all who stood in their path. _

_Both Wyvern and the surrounding kingdoms had conspired to wage war on them, resulting in many deaths on both sides. Many of the clan had not survived, almost all of the females in fact. Only a few elder females were left now. _

_They had once returned to Wyvern, about ten years ago, when the old leader had learnt that Malcolm had produced an heiress… _

_Her voice had deepened a lot in the years since then, but he knew who it was. _

_He followed the echo back to its origin, and sure enough found its owner… Princess Katherine. The fair and spoilt princess yelled and screamed, as five young warriors, among which were the young trio who were always together, laughed and jeered at her, as they tossed her about like a ragdoll. _

_"Maybe I'll find a way to quench my bloodlust tonight after all," the old leader chuckled, and walked right into the group, grabbing the princess roughly, his claws piercing her dress and skin. _

_Katherine squealed from the pain. _

_"Well, well," he smiled none too kindly at her. "Princess Katherine… Tis a pleasure to be able to stand in your fair presence once again, I must say." _

_Katherine glared at her old one, recognising him. "You!" she hissed at him. _

_His face smirked at her. "Oh, so do ye do remember me?" _

_Katherine suddenly spat at him, her eyes flaring, which if she had been a gargoyle would no doubt be shining brighter than the fires of Hell. "Ye butchered my father right in front of me!" _

_"Ah yes," he said, slowly nodding his head, releasing her into the arms of the large young aqua warrior behind her who held her too tightly. "I had forgotten about that." _

_He actually hadn't forgotten, as he didn't tend to forget any kill he had made. He would certainly never forget the death of the Scottish prince who betrayed them, especially when he had pleaded for his life miserably, while his young daughter had blubbered in the corner. _

_He had never gotten around to the little princess then, as the guards had gotten to them before they could do anything, but not before they had left Malcolm's corpse at his daughter's feet. _

_"Ye filthy, murdering monster… OHH!" she squealed again. _

_The old warrior hadn't known what was wrong with her at first, seeing as he hadn't done anything to her yet, till he looked down at her chest where he saw the large aqua one, holding her, had grabbed both her breasts, squeezing them roughly. His long chin was resting on the top of her head, smirking brightly. _

_He looked around at the rest of them, and saw that many of the youngsters were also bearing that same kind of smirk. _

_"GET OFF ME, YOU DEGENERATE REJECT!!" Katherine screeched, as she struggled futilely in her captor's arms but only provided an amusement for the others, who laughed loudly at her. _

_The aged warrior then took one large step forward, grabbing the princess by her arm, squeezing it with his powerful gargoyle strength almost to the breaking point, making her wail loudly at the pain. He then turned her sharply around, and slapped her on her rear. _

_"OHH!" Katherine yelped over the chorus of jitters. _

_"Mind your manners, youngster," he simply told her, before releasing her back into the aqua one's hold. "And incidentally, the name's Adhamh, not degenerate reject." _

_A long grin came over his face. "You know something, princess?" he said, treading slowly to her, his claw rising to her face. "There was many a time that my clan and I were hustled about, treated like dirt, all for your own pleasure…" Adhamh never lost his grin. "I think it's about time you let us return the favour, don't you?" _

_Katherine's eyes widened with this implication, followed by even more of her futile screams and struggles. "No, no, no, no, no, no…!" she screamed, and in her terror, managed something that even astounded the Gargoyles. Katherine broke free of her captor's grip, slapping him around the face, doing no damage, but surprising him and running down the castle corridor as fast as her legs could carry her. _

_Adhamh just watched the whole scene with casual interest. "Interesting," he said. finally. "So the wee princess has some spunk after all, does she?" He looked at the growling youngsters by his side. "It'll be fun to break her of that, don't ye think, lads?" _

_The young warriors all laughed along with him. _

_Meanwhile, Katherine continued running down the corridor, her leg muscles aching from the constant running that she was unused to… until she tripped over a large stone on the floor. _

_"Oof!" Katherine groaned, landing hard on her side, forgetting for a moment about the looming danger behind her, and no doubt on her trail right now. "Who…" she started to say, but stopped when she looked at the stone in question, and discovered that it was no stone… but a guardsmen's disembodied head. _

_A scream echoed through the halls, but it had not originated from her… _

_Katherine resisted the urge to squeal, holding her mouth shut with her hand. She tried to keep her sight centred away from the head, and crept quickly down the hall, hurrying to get to one of the corridors that would lead to the courtyard outside. Outside there, there was an old cavern that had at one time been used by the gargoyles, when they used to live there, as a rookery for their young. It had now been converted into a sort of treasury room to hide all of their family's wealth. It was the most secure room in the entire castle, and where she would hopefully be safe. _

_Another scream echoed from one of the rooms as she ran past them, followed by even more and more of them. _

_Her curiosity got the better of her, and she couldn't resist looking into one of the rooms as she ran past… just in time to see one of her guards screaming for mercy, as he was tied to a pillar with two gargoyles running at him with a burning torch, ramming it into his face, the flames licking his skin. And another guard was bound fast on the floor, with a long sort of pipe shoved down his throat, and three gargoyles, each holding a poisonous adder–snake, lowering the serpents into the pipe and down his throat. _

_Part of her wanted to curl up right there and block her ears, if only to escape the terrifying screams. _

_"Hellooo!" a loud voice boomed, and Katherine felt herself slam into what she thought for a moment was a huge tree. A tree that was the same colour as the fat Gargoyle who had held her not a few moments ago, and even the same ears, but looked older and was definitely better built. _

_"Well, well," the new gargoyle said drunkenly. She smelt the heavy scent of wine and ale on his breath. "To what do we owe this honour?" _

_Katherine fought to break free of him, but whatever strength she had had before that had saved her from the other gargoyles had now gone. _

_The new gargoyle laughed out loud. "Brothers!" he called out. "Looks like we missed one! There's still one more here!" _

_A few moments later, a large number of gargoyles came staggering out of the rooms along the corridor. Some were unsteady on their talon feet, no doubt drunk as this one was, while some seemed clear, focused and had their sights on her… Some laughed, others cackled, while some just smirked or grunted at her, but the one thing they all did have in common… was that nearly all of them were covered in blood, human blood. _

_"Here's the deal, wench!" the first one slurred into her ear, never easing his grip on her. "Ye make it down this corridor, past our brothers, and out of the door at the end with even one strip of clothing still on ye, then ye can go free, if not… " he laughed, not even bothering to finish the statement. _

_Katherine's eyes widened at his words, particularly at the part that ran, "with even one strip of clothing still on ye." _

_"No, please… " she pleaded, but the gargoyle just laughed, and then gave her a hard shove down the corridor where even now all of the gargoyles were lined up on either side of the corridor… _

_She had barely taken a few steps before one gargoyle walked up to her, grabbing her backside and squeezing it painfully. She squealed, twisting around away from him, only for another to do the exact same thing, but this time when she twisted away the other one ripped off the bottom-half of her dress, exposing her rear-end. _

_"Tut-tut," he said, waving his talon at her. "No underwear, shame on you." _

_The monsters laughed and jeered, as she tried to unsuccessfully cover herself, panic starting to overwhelm her. She tried racing forward to the door at the end, only to trip over one of the gargoyles' tails. _

_She tried getting up, but stopped when she felt a big weight settle on her back. _

_"Giddy-yup, horsy!" a smaller, more rotund gargoyle said, as he sat on her back, his tail whipping her backside. _

_Tears burned in Katherine's eyes when she tried throwing the monster off her back, but only succeeded in gaining more cheers from the crowd, as her backside was whipped by the beast's tail, and fondled by several gargoyle claws, followed by… a gigantic mountain of a gargoyle standing in front of her… _

_He was tall, at least 7 feet, dark green skin, with the same fan-like ears as the two aqua-coloured ones, and seemingly built entirely out of muscle. He grinned, wiggling his eye-ridges at her. _

_"Come and get it, lassie!" he cheered, thrusting his hips, right into her face. _

_Katherine backed away fearfully, but stopped when a group of gargoyles surrounded her from behind. The small fat gargoyle got off her back, but the others grabbed her by her back and legs, lifting her high above their heads. _

_"NOOOOO!!" she yelled, struggling futilely. _

_The clan cheered and hooted, as the group carried the princess forward. _

_"ALL RIGHT NOW, THAT BE ENOUGH!" a voice boomed out. _

_The clan immediately fanned out, backing away from the fallen princess, her legs dropping straight to the floor. _

_Katherine looked up and saw the old scarred warrior coming towards her. He had a bemused look in his eyes, as he saw her now torn dress. _

_"Enjoyin yuirself?" he asked casually, smirking. _

_Katherine didn't glare, shout, or even dare speak. She just kept her legs crossed so tightly together that they hurt, and her arms wrapped around her chest, tears in her eyes. _

_The old leader signalled some gargoyles behind him, who turned out to be the three young ones he had had with him earlier. "Bring her!" he ordered. _

_Katherine just kept still, as the red one with the long beak, and the huge robust one picked her up, dragging her with them, while the small green one just stayed behind. _

_They walked on for a while, but Katherine had no idea where they were going. Despite growing up in this castle, she had kept her eyes close to the ground, not watching where they were going. Eventually, they stopped… and the old one turned back to look at her. _

_"Well now," he smiled. "What shall we do with you now?" _

_The three young warriors leered at her, their chuckles and cackles echoing in the princess's ears. _

_"It would be such a shame not to let my three youngsters here have their first taste of womanhood," the old leader said, stroking Katherine's cheek with his talon. "Of course, they would have had it long since before now were any of their rookery sisters still alive, but naturally… you took care of that, didn't you, young princess. You who ordered your army to scour the soil of your kingdom, shattering anything in their sights that even remotely resembled anything like a gargoyle." _

_Katherine whimpered. _

_Just then, a door from down the corridor opened, and two Gargoyles, who were one generation above the trio, one who was a lighter red-skinned gargoyle with the same ears as the large aqua-one, and two horns from his head, and a dark reddish-brown one with two massive horns that seemingly sprout out from his forehead, and two huge tusks propping up from his mouth like a hog, approached them. _

_They carried between them a lone human male, his clothes torn and his body thoroughly beaten… _

_"M-Magus?" Katherine stuttered, as she stared at her oldest friend. _

_The Magus raised his head to look at her, the left side of his face swollen, bruised and bleeding. "Pr… princess," he croaked, his mouth barely able to form the words. _

_"Oh, how sweet," the aged warrior chuckled. "A reunion. Well now, princess… Ye can give your old friend a show, can't you, as well as a treat for us." _

_Katherine glared up at him… and Adhamh slapped her face. _

_"Watch your look princess," he warned her. _

_"Please, just let me go!" Katherine wailed. _

_"Don't worry," Adhamh sneered. "You'll be going soon enough... and coming, too." He lifted his claw, signalling the warriors. At once, she felt the Gargoyles' paws grab onto her, and begin to heave her up. _

_"What are you doing?!" she struggled against her captors, but the gargoyle's grip could not be loosened. It wasn't any of the young trio, as they were now holding onto the Magus, jeering and taunting him, so it had to be one of the other older males. _

_"Just taking ye to yuir room, lassie," the leader told her, and opened a door farther down the corridor. _

_Katherine finally noticed where she was. She was near the room that had once been her father's bedchamber._

_The door opened, and they carried her in… _

_Katherine immediately noticed the gigantic figure lying on what had once been her father's bed. It was clearly gargoyle, but she knew that even before she noticed its wings and tail. No way could any human be that huge. _

_The figure was male, incredibly large, built seemingly entirely out of muscle, and was a deep lavender colour, with long dark hair. It seemed to be sleeping on the bed, snoring, with a large wineskin held next to its chest. _

_The leader went forward and slapped the giant on the head, waking him. He grunted, stirring slightly, and then stretched out its arms… _

_Katherine grew fearful. If she hadn't thought he was big before, she certainly had no doubts now. _

_The leader whispered a few things in his ear, and then the giant grinned, his eyes rested on her, as he licked his lips. _

_"No," Katherine whispered, and yelled as the giant got off the bed, scratching himself as he looked at her. The rest of the clan laughed, as they carried her over to the bed, laying her down upon it, grabbing her hands and feet, and tying them to the bedposts… _

_"No!" she screamed. "You promised! You swore no harm would befall me!" _

_The leader just reached forward to her face. "I did, and I am a gargoyle of my word, lassie," he said, as he leaned further over. "But I never said anything about the others!" _

_Katherine's eyes grew wide, and the leader just laughed at her. She looked down the bed at the two other older gargoyles who waggled their tongues at her. Then up at the lavender giant as he stood before her, grinning and almost salivating at her. _

_He jiggled his loincloth about a bit before unbuckling it, dropping it to the floor._

_What Katherine saw then made her scream louder than she ever had before… _

0000000000000000000000000

**Manhattan; Present Time: **

"I was surprised, actually," Adhamh said, his tone uncaring. "I heard from the lads that she managed to hold out until the three of them, and at least three others who joined in the fun, were finished with her. Normally, human females barely last with even two of us, let alone six."

Hudson looked at his double with an expression that was a mixture of shock, disgust and outrage. "You… how could… How could you do such a monstrous… despicable deed?!"

His double just looked at him as if he was stupid. "Weren't you listening?" he said. "I told you how the humans mistreated us back at Wyvern. The princess brat was no exception. When any of us were taken prisoner, she took great pleasure in torturing that poor soul to death. We just got our justice! And she got what was coming to her. If we hadn't have done it, someone else would have done eventually."

"It doesn't matter what she might or might not have done to us," Hudson practically pleaded, his mind still not accepting what he had just heard in his own voice. "A gargoyle lives by honour and integrity. What you did… it is beyond sin and filth!"

His double just snarled. "Tell that to our fallen brethren who died in their sleep! Many of them were just hatchlings, not just our warriors. We swore to avenge them and we did!"

"And how did that work out for ye?" Hudson counteracted. "Speaking of which, just how did ye manage to end up 1000 years in the future?"

Adhamh growled under his breath. "It was that blasted Magus! During our… fun with the princess, he had somehow managed to escape his bonds. We didn't notice until he came barging through the doors, attempting to save his beloved princess. Our brothers made short work of him, but not before he managed to cast one of his damn spells on us. The next thing we knew, it was 1000 years later, our clan were all gone save for us five."

"At least the Magus made the right choice in another life concerning his spells," Hudson remarked quietly.

Adhamh snarled at him. "Say what ye will, weakling! But at least my clan died strong! We fought for our rights, took back what was rightfully ours, and slew our enemies till the ground ran red with their blood!"

Hudson just looked at him with disgust. "You're nothing but plain savages, the worst of the worst. You're no better than the Vikings or pirates of ancient days. To hear that some of my own kind, even from another reality, could be capable of such vile acts of barbarism… I cannot even stand to stare at you!" He got up to leave.

"Is it me you're afraid to stare at," Adhamh grinned behind him. "Or is it yourself? Remember, no matter what you like to believe, I am you! Or at least you as you would have become if you had been raised in my world."

Hudson paused briefly, but then quickly hurried out, trying not to listen to the mocking laughter of his double.

0000000000000000000000000

**Great Hall: **

"What can you tell us about these… individuals?" Goliath asked Aster, still refusing to call the strangers his clans' counterparts.

They had been trying to gather all the information they could about these strange visitors from Aster, seeing as he had travelled through numerous alternate worlds already.

Aster shrugged. "Only what I've observed. Obviously, Hudson… their Hudson that is, or Adhamh as he calls himself, he is the leader of this clan, not Goliath."

"Funny name?" Elisa remarked.

"It's Scottish," Hudson told him, as he entered the Hall. "It means 'Red Earth.'"

"Did he tell you anything?" Goliath asked.

Hudson snarled. "Nothing that I care to repeat."

The others looked at him curiously, but judging by the way Hudson was standing, his fists clenched, his fangs gnashing and his eyes slightly flaring, it was clear he didn't want to talk about it. If the prisoner had revealed anything useful, Hudson would have been sure to tell them.

"Why would he choose a name like that?" Elisa then asked, still curious about the name.

Hudson scoffed. "Red earth? I think the meaning says it pretty clearly, lass. The blackguard sees himself as making the earth he walks on turn red with the blood of his enemies. It sounds just like the kind of name he'd choose for himself."

Elisa shrugged. "Have to admit, he does have creativity when choosing a name."

"Aside from him and their Goliath," Aster continued, "who bears the same name as ours, the others have no names. They seem to have stuck to that old gargoyle tradition."

"I'm not sure about Adhamh," Goliath said curiously.

"How do you mean?" Brooklyn asked.

"Oh, don't get me wrong, as he is obviously the one with power. They all look to him, but they also look to my… to their Goliath."

"It's possibly a joint operation," Lexington suggested. "You know, Adhamh is the brains, but Goliath is the brawn, the muscle. It might be the way they ran clans in their world."

"Anything else you can tell us, Aster?" Goliath asked.

"Only that they're definitely no warriors," Aster replied grimly. "They're just savages, plain and simple. They're pretty much like what I know of the Vikings of ancient times. They live for battle, attack, kill, and reap the pleasure of their conquest… food, wine… women." He said the last part with some noticeable disgust.

"That I know all too well," Hudson muttered as he entered the hall, remembering his talk with his dark twin.

"How did the talk go with your… with him?" Goliath asked.

Hudson only responded with a low deep growl, his eyes flashing briefly.

"I'll take that as a not so good," Brooklyn guessed.

"Oh no," Elisa suddenly said, thinking about Aster's words and remembering something.

"What is it, my Elisa?" Goliath looked at her concerned.

"How long have these counterparts of yours been here for?" she asked hurriedly.

Goliath looked at the rest of his clan who simply shrugged. "We are unsure," he admitted. "We believe Cecile Vene might have conjured them here only fairly recently, but we have no direct proof of that. For all we know, they could have been here for weeks before revealing themselves."

Elisa had a cold look of dread upon her face.

"What is it?" Aster asked her curiously.

"There's been a spree of murders and rapes recently in New York," she told them. "People's apartments have been broken into, some of the victims were savagely ripped apart, mostly the men, and the women… The forensics said they were all raped. Some of them were suffocated or crushed during intercourse, others were just almost completely clawed up and left for dead, and others were literally raped to death… possibly by more than one male."

Goliath looked at her in mute horror, realisation dawning on him. "How many of these murders have there been?"

Elisa sighed. "At least eight… that we know of so far that is. But we don't know for certain that it was them, Goliath. I mean, sick things like this happen all the time."

"It would be consistent with what we know," Aster added.

"What do you mean?" Elisa asked, looking at him.

"The clawing up parts, what we know they're like with women."

"Yeah, but what about the suffocating part?" Lex queried.

Aster sighed. "That might have something to do with their counter Broadway."

"Hey!" Broadway yelled in indignation. He had been summoned to the Hall to commune with the clan, leaving Owen with Sarah Foster who assured him that he was quite capable of handling her, should her alter-ego return.

"Sorry, bud," Aster said calmly. "I don't want to be rude, but we have to face facts… For a human, your weight is literally a killer. If your counterpart got on top of a woman, she'd be lucky to come out of it with just a crushed ribcage. The only difference between him and you is that whereas your weight is both of fat and muscle, his is mostly muscle... No offence."

"Offence taken," Broadway mumbled, glaring at him slightly.

"What can we do?" Lex asked. "We have to stop them!"

"Aye, that we must," Hudson agreed.

"I don't understand how these things could possibly be us," Lex fumed. "I mean, not just the scars all over them, but… If I didn't know any better, I'd swear they were Vikings in gargoyles' skins, the way they act."

"Obviously their clan and yours made some different choice over the ages," Aster told him. "At some point in your clan's history, your clan decided to live to protect, choosing honour over all things… This clan apparently chose the opposite, deciding that mere survival was better than honour. And along the way, their clan's values and such must have degenerated."

"Sounds like something out of an H.G. Wells novel," Elisa muttered.

"Did he mention where we can find the others of his clan?" Goliath then asked his mentor.

Hudson looked guilty at his leader. "I'm sorry, lad… But to tell the truth, I didn't really ask any worthy questions. I was too disgusted with the blackguard to ask any."

Goliath sighed but understood his mentor's feelings. He too would have no doubt had the same reaction with his own doppelganger. "I will question him then," he said.

"I fear you will have no more luck than your former leader, Goliath," Aster noted. "This guy doesn't seem like the type who'll give information willingly."

"Probably not," Goliath admitted. "But I will try, nonetheless."

"I'll go and see if I can get anymore information about the murders from work," Elisa said helpfully. "I'll meet you back at my place later," she added in a whisper to her husband.

Goliath nodded. "I'll see you then," he replied, gratefully accepting the warm kiss from her, before she left.

Goliath took a deep breath, and turned to his clan. "I'll go talk with our 'guest' then."

0000000000000000000000000

**Bedford Hotel:**

"Well that's a bitter disappointment," Cecile moaned, as she gazed into the small Crystal Ball she held. "I really thought this new clan would give Goliath and his cronies a real challenge. After all, who better to fight someone than themselves?"

"Looks like you're beaten then," Thailog smirked behind her.

Cecile spared him a glance. "The show's not over yet, lover. They still have time to prove themselves."

0000000000000000000000000

**Eyrie Building; Cell-Room: **

Goliath entered the cell-room, but kept his distance away from the prisoner's cell. If this gargoyle was even half the warrior that Hudson was, he was taking no chances.

"So now the leader pays me a visit, eh?" Adhamh gave the Manhattan leader and ugly smirk. "I am honoured tonight."

Goliath said nothing at first, and just stared quietly at him, his eyes peering right into him.

Adhamh appeared non-pulsed, but inwardly he was on guard. His own Goliath was quite the warrior, and especially dangerous when he was angry, or even when he had had a bit to drink, so it paid to be cautious around this Goliath.

"Where are your fellow clanmates?" Goliath finally asked.

"Gone away, haven't you noticed?" Adhamh smirked at him.

Goliath ignored him and just asked the next question. "Why did the Venes summon you here? And how?"

Adhamh shrugged. "Beats me."

"Don't tempt me, villain," Goliath growled lowly. "Now tell me what I want to know, now!"

"Are you willing to fight me, youngling?" Adhamh growled back.

Goliath took a menacing step towards him. "Do you believe you could actually stand a chance against me?!"

The two of them stood like that, each glaring at the other, their eyes brightly glowing, and growls that would shudder a lion.

"You think you're gargoyle enough to fight me," Adhamh snarled. "Come on then! Show me what you're made of, child!"

Goliath roared, releasing the lock on the cell…

0000000000000000000000000

**Elisa's Apartment: **

Elisa moaned as she entered her apartment, taking off her gun and holster. She immediately started heading over to her drawer in the kitchen where she now kept her gun. Her experience with Broadway had taught her to take better care about where she left her weapon.

A low growl of seeming approval sounded behind her.

Elisa spun round, but relaxed when she saw Goliath standing behind her.

"Oh, Goliath," she said, sighing in relief. "I thought you were patrolling with the clan? Did you find those counterparts of yours?"

Goliath shrugged his massive shoulders. "The clan has done all the searching it can," he told her. "There is nothing more we can do. I was hoping you had found something tonight on your… patrol?"

Elisa sighed. "Afraid so," she replied. "There's been another rape and murder, one that's a few days old."

"Oh?" Goliath said, as he came nearer her.

Elisa held her gun to the side, sighing as she rubbed her forehead. "A woman was found in her apartment tonight… A neighbour reported he had not seen her or her husband for a few days, and called it in. When the cops entered her apartment, they found her tied up in her room, her husband's head plopped right in her lap. Other detectives say someone must have broken into her home, killed her husband, and molested her in practically every kind of way they could think of."

"Has she said anything?"

Elisa shook her head. "No, and I don't think she ever will." She turned her head up to him, her eyes watering slightly. "Goliath, it was awful. You should have seen the poor woman… She's completely catatonic, won't say a word or do anything. She just sits there, doing absolutely nothing. She won't even eat. The orderlies have to feed her themselves."

"Yes, terrible," Goliath agreed, as he came up to her. His long arms embraced her, holding her close to him. "Try not to think about it."

"How can I not?" Elisa asked, snuggling into his masculine chest. "When those sick bastards are still out there, doing God knows what."

She felt Goliath's heart pounding in his chest, followed by a low growl rumbling from within. "We will find a way… together."

He said, as he cupped her chin with his talon, and lowered his face to hers.

"Elisa!"

Elisa turned her face not just at the sound of her name being called out, but because of the voice doing the calling.

"Goliath?" she breathed out in surprise, seeing her mate standing at her window.

"Awww, and just when we were getting better acquainted, too," the counter-Goliath said mockingly, still holding onto her, crushing her now, against his chest.

"Speak for yourself," Elisa said, followed by the sound of a gun-click, right next to her captor's 'personal' area…

The dark Goliath looked down to see Elisa holding her gun straight at his genitals, the safety off.

"When you're married," Elisa told him. "You tend to notice little things about your mate that no one else does." She then pointed to the little scar over his right eye. "This is quite the giveaway, pal. How could you think I would ever believe you were my husband?"

"Maybe that's what you want," he smirked. "Someone who's not your husband."

A snarl interrupted him, as Goliath rammed into him, grabbing his flailing arms and securing them behind his back, while his knee held his wings down.

"When did you get here?" she asked the real Goliath.

"After I had my 'chat' with Adhamh," Goliath scoffed. "He revealed a few things about himself and his clan, some of which I already knew or suspected. He also made me realise that my counterpart here might possibly come after you, as a sort of jest on me, something to make me suffer. It seems to be the focus of this clan's entire existence."

"Adhamh would never betray the clan!" his dark twin hissed, showing off his fangs, as he tried in vain to throw Goliath off of him.

"You'd be surprised what secrets any warrior will reveal after they've spent a few minutes in battle with me," Goliath smirked behind him, still holding his arms down. "But enough of that for now… Adhamh was kind enough to divulge some information for me, and now I want the same from you… Where are the other members of your clan?!"

"How should I know? And even if I did, why should I tell you?!"

Goliath applied some pressure to his back, particularly on the sensitive part between his wings, making his prisoner howl in agony.

"Alright! Alright!" his victim cried out, making Elisa realise that although this stranger maybe Goliath's counterpart, they were definitely not the same person. She knew that her Goliath would never give in to interrogation so quickly, particularly when the safety of his clan was at stake.

'Then again,' she suddenly thought. 'Who's to say he wouldn't?' This could be a trap for them, so Elisa chose to remain ever vigilante and careful, with Goliath no doubt doing the same, as he viewed his twin with a cocked eyeridge, but never easing his hold on him.

"I don't know for certain where they are," the alternate admitted. "It's the way of our clan. We always split at the end of a battle, go our separate ways for a certain amount of time, then we all meet up at a rendezvous point."

"Where is the rendezvous supposed to be?" Goliath demanded.

"At an old abandoned building with the words 'Crossfire' on it."

"I know that place," Elisa remarked. "It used to be an old gun shooting club that went bankrupt. Nobody's used the place in years."

"Contact the clan and have them meet us here," Goliath told her. "And also tell Xanatos to have another cell made up… One with plenty of bars and electricity."

His alternate snarled, bucking underneath him, but Goliath remained where he was, twisting his arm to breaking point.

"You won't find any of my clan easy to find, fool!" his prisoner hissed. "Even with the information I have given you, all of my clan know the art of stealth. And they'll be sure to keep an eye out for anyone who comes near the rendezvous point!"

Goliath twisted his arm again; applying more pressure to the dark one's back, making him hiss in pain.

"Then I guess I'll just have to be very careful with them, won't I," Goliath simply replied, and signalled Elisa to bring him something to bind his claws with.

0000000000000000000000000

**Somewhere Downtown: **

Veronica Simpson sighed, as she carried what felt like ten loads of her shopping down the road, making her way to her apartment building.

'Don't get a car,' she said mentally, mimicking her mother. 'They're bad for the environment; think of the ozone and your health. Without a car you'll get plenty of exercise, fresh air as you're walking… Yeahhh, right.'

Her arms ached from all the carrying, feeling like they were ready to drop off any second.

'It's alright for her,' she moaned. 'She gets dad to do all the shopping for her, and he drives. But what about me, do I catch a break… noooo. I have to do it myself, and bust my arms doing it, too.'

She groaned, as she rounded another corner, as there was still another two blocks to go before she got home.

"Should've taken the bus," she grumbled. "To hell with the rent."

A loud whooshing sound suddenly went over, startling her. She looked up, but saw nothing.

"Okay, Veronica," she berated herself. "You definitely need a lie down. You're jumping at shadows now." All the same, she hurried a little further down the road, wishing there were some more people sharing the sidewalk with her.

"Need some help with those?" a voice came out of nowhere.

Veronica gasped, almost dropping her shopping, and spun to her left…

In the alley next to her, she could just make out the dark outline of what looked like a large man. He kept to the shadows, not coming near her.

Veronica stuttered a little. "Th-thank you, but no," she backed away, hurrying down the road. "I'm fine, I have… " She never got to finish…

The same whooshing sound came as before, only this time it was a lot louder, mainly because it was a lot closer this time.

Veronica shrieked, as she felt something hook her from under both her arms, and lifted her straight up before she could breathe.

"Well, let us give you a lift at least," a snide voice sniggered.

Veronica looked up in fear, and saw what she at first thought was a large bird, until she noticed its red skin and long mane of white hair.

"HELLLLLLP!!" Veronica screamed, but didn't struggle, seeing as how high they were now. "PUT ME DOWN!!"

"As you wish," the Brooklyn-look-alike complied, and released her.

Veronica screamed as she felt herself fall to earth. She didn't fall very far though, as another gargoyle (as she figured that was what these creatures must be) caught her by her legs, hanging her upside down.

Three voices laughed out loud, as her skirt fell over her head.

"I hope you got enough rest tonight, wench," another voice spoke, his hot breath on her. "Cos you're going to be needing it!"

To Be Continued… 


	6. Chapter 6: PART 28

All the characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyright Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company.  
No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder.  
All original characters are the property of Storyseeker.

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**Eyrie Building; Cell-Room: **

"Watch who you're shoving!" the alternate-Goliath yelled, as his counterpart none too gently shoved him into his cell, right next door to the one occupied by the alternate-Hudson referred to as Adhamh.

"I am," Goliath simply replied. "When I see someone worth being less brutal with, I'll let you know."

"You…!"

"Goliath?" Lexington's voice called out. "We're ready to go."

"I'll be right there!" Goliath replied, as he shut the cell's door, activating the electrical field that immediately started surging through the bars.

"Enjoy your stay," Goliath remarked, turning and leaving through the one main door.

Adhamh, who had come to the front of his cell the minute he had heard his co-leader come in, looked over at the door, where Goliath had exited, closing.

Although neither he nor his Goliath could see each other, they both… smiled.

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**Old Building; Crossfire:**

Goliath, Hudson, Aster and the trio stealthily glided onto the old abandoned building with a large sign, with the words Crossfire imprinted upon it, over the top.

Angela had remained behind with Bronx, Elisa and Xanatos to watch over the other alternates. Considering how fairly easy it had been to overthrow the counter Goliath and Adhamh, they didn't think these three youngsters would be much trouble.

Goliath lead the way, keeping his ears perked and open for any kind of sound that might reveal the dark trio's whereabouts.

"Where are they?" Broadway wondered out loud.

"Shhh!" Brooklyn and Lexington both hushed him.

"Maybe they're not here?" Aster suggested, looking bored. He hadn't really been bothered to come, as he just wanted to continue their search for The Entity.

Suddenly, a loud scream echoed along some of their corridors occupied with several others…

"You were saying," Brooklyn added.

"Shut up!" Aster sneered at him, and hurried after Goliath who had already sped down the corridor, looking for the search of origin of the scream.

They didn't have far to go, as they had barely gone down the one corridor when they found them…

The dark trio were in a large room together with five Human women. One woman had her arms chained up to the ceiling, with the alternate Brooklyn thrusting his way in-between her legs. Another one was laid down on the floor with the alter-Lex on top of her, his claws pinning her shoulders down, as his tail lashed about wildly with each thrust.

The Broadway-double actually had three women whom he was taking all at once. He was sitting sideways on one woman's back, making it impossible for her to escape from his mass weight. On one side, her entire front section was at his left hip, while her bottom-half was at the other. His tail swerved around to her bottom-half where its tip was even now twiddling and moving around in her opening, making her cry out.

The other two women he had both had their hands tied behind their backs. One of them also had her legs tied around his neck, giving him a complete close-up of her love-hole, as he shoved his long thick tongue in, tasting her. The poor woman dangled over his side, screaming and weeping as her breasts bounced each time his tongue went in and out of her.

The third and final woman had her legs spread wide open, as she was held on his lap, with his claws clutching her buttocks, forcing her further down as she rode him, tears in her eyes.

Goliath needed no further incitement of what to do then…

Goliath roared and charged forward, determined to grab the vile filth and ram their heads through the wall.

The Broadway-double quickly noticed his arrival, and stood up, dropping the woman that had been on his lap, and relieving the backache of the woman he had been sitting on. The second woman however stayed where she had been, her legs tied around his neck, preventing her escape. She dangled over to his front, making a perfect armour for him.

The rest of the trio were quick behind him, as were the clan behind Goliath.

Goliath kept his distance, in fear that the large warrior would harm the defenceless human.

The savage warrior in question knew this, and as a deliberate sign of taunting… he stuck out his tongue again, licking the woman's opening, making her cry out.

"Wanna taste?" he asked him mockingly.

Goliath snarled.

Brooklyn was more impetuous than the rest, and raced forward, charging at his other self. His double however seemed prepared for this, and quickly jumped out of his way, slamming his fist onto the back of his head.

With Brooklyn leading the way, the others followed his example. Broadway went to help Brooklyn, while Aster and Lexington took on his Lex's other self, and Goliath and Hudson went to surround the dark twin of Broadway.

The dark Broadway ensured to keep his front to them at all times, so he neared one of the walls where neither of them could get behind him. He smirked, still continuing to sniff and lick his hostage's opening.

"You sure you don't wanna taste?" he sniggered. "Or just a whiff? Trust me, you'd love it!"

Goliath and Hudson both growled ferociously at him, both of them wishing they could tear out his throat with their bare claws.

"Release the human!" Goliath demanded.

"Ohhh, I'd like to," the counter sniggered in laughter, and patted the woman's tied legs around his neck. "But the two of us have grown _rather_ close."

Hudson took slow easy steps, creeping up closer to the larger Gargoyle, but the youngster noticed him immediately.

"Take one step closer," he warned, and opened his mouth, revealing his large and razor-sharp fangs. "And the next time I taste her, I'll take a bite, too!"

Hudson and Goliath both slowed their pace, keeping their distance. All around them, the sounds of battle raged on.

"You can't stay here forever, savage!" Hudson growled at him. "If ye release the girl now, we'll ensure that you and your clan are returned back to your own world unharmed."

The dark Broadway just shrugged at him. "Don't matter which world we're in. They're both pretty much the same, but at least in this one we've got you guys to keep us amused."

"How long do you plan to remain here, brute?" Goliath then asked. "Until my clan has defeated yours, and then what? What are you going to do when you're all alone with five warriors against you?" He hadn't noticed that it had suddenly gone quiet.

The savage then grinned. "Funny, I was about to ask you the same question."

Goliath knew better than to turn his back on an opponent, so he let Hudson turn to look behind them. From the sharp intake of breath, he guessed that Hudson did not like what he saw.

Goliath quickly turned, and saw the trio of his own clan lying defeated on the floor. Brooklyn had received another blow to the head by his own double, knocking him completely unconscious this time. Aster was even now battling the Brooklyn double, and just barely holding his own against him, while Lex and Broadway were lying near Brooklyn, each with their own injuries.

Broadway looked as if he had nearly had one of his own ears torn off, while Lex lay on the floor with a darkened eye and blood creeping out of his mouth.

"Seems to me you're the one all alone, _old man_," the dark Broadway grinned. "But hey, no need to be uncivilised about this. Just as a sign of good will, we'll let you go this time… We'll meet up some other night." He reached around his neck, and pulled up the legs of the woman dangling in front of him, and gave her one final lick with his long rough tongue. "You and I will meet up again some night, too, darling." He sniggered. "We've got some… _unfinished business_, you and I."

With that, he dropped the female, knocking her head sharply on the concrete floor, and raced out through one of the doors, his brothers close behind him.

The Brooklyn double gave a small salute to Aster, and ran after his clan.

Goliath and Aster both snarled, and attempted to go after them, but Hudson restrained them…

"Lads, wait!" Hudson all but yelled.

"We can't let them escape again!" Goliath insisted.

"We have to," Hudson reasoned with him. "For two reasons… One, there's our lads to think about." He indicated the trio, lying defeated and bruised on the floor.

Goliath swore lowly, but nodded his head in agreement.

"And there's one more thing… " It was then that Goliath noticed that Hudson looked troubled.

"What is it?"

"Lad," Hudson began. "These lads were nothing more than that… lads. If they could have defeated us so easily, then how could we have possibly defeated their leaders?"

Goliath stared at him. "I caught my twin by surprise, and Adhamh as well."

"Adhamh, I can understand," Hudson admitted. "The lads did catch him by surprise, but… Lad, what about yours? From what ye told me, he barely put up much of a fight. Compared to your first battle, not to mention the way he acted… does that sounds like the kind of fighter who would quit so easily?"

Goliath's eyes widened. "We must return to the Eyrie at once!" he ordered, and raced to the trio, helping them up.

00000000000000000000

**Destine Manor: **

Lana moaned, as she tossed and turned on her bed. The nightmares left her exhausted even after a full day's sleep, so he found it harder and harder to rest.

For once though, she wasn't having a nightmare at the moment… It was more like one was trying to work its way in.

As she slept, the small pendant that her grandmother had given her glowed with a bright orange light, indicating that its magic had been activated.

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**Bedford Hotel: **

Thailog sweated, as he worked the spell again, attempting to gain entry into his target's mind.

"Work, damn you!" he hissed, sweat pouring off his forehead.

"Having trouble?" a high voice said sweetly.

Thailog didn't bother to open his eyes, not wanting to see the ugly smirk on the Vene daughter yet again. "As a matter of fact, I am," he simply replied. "I can't seem to get through as I used to."

Cecile snorted. "Were you expecting her to sit back and let you invade her dreams day after day willingly?" She sat down by the fire, warming herself. "Granny Demona may not have even half the magical sources that my family possess, but that doesn't mean she's totally helpless. Protecting yourself against an invader's attack on your dreams is fairly simple really. All it requires is a combination of a few spells and charms designed to fight back."

"I can still feel her," Thailog frowned, still trying to punch his way through. "I can almost taste her! But I can't see her!"

"Sounds to me like she's just using a single charm then," Cecile replied none-caring. "Probably a protective rune or something."

"How do I compact it then?!" Thailog demanded.

Cecile gave him a hard stare.

"If you would please tell me, my mistress," Thailog immediately said humbly.

"Just use some stronger magic," Cecile told him. "But that'll have to wait. Come on, we have guests this evening."

"Oh God, not those would-be Gargoyles again," Thailog groaned. In a way, they were what he had hoped his own cloned clan would turn out into… strong, fast, cunning, an unbeatable. The only drawback of these particular Gargoyles was their savage and brutal behaviour. He couldn't stand them.

"Don't knock it till you've tried it," Cecile scolded him.

"I thought the clan had defeated them anyway?" Thailog then asked, a bit confused. He remembered one of the Vene boys saying that the counter Goliath and the counter Hudson had been captured.

Cecile smiled darkly. "Ever hear the phrase 'Never judge a book by its cover'?"

00000000000000000000

**Just Near The Eyrie Building: **

Goliath, Hudson, Aster and the trio soared through the air at top speed. Goliath didn't want to waste no time, especially if what he suspected was true.

Broadway carried an unconscious Brooklyn in his arms, while Aster steadied Lex with his one arm under his. His left web-wing had gotten severely beaten and mangled, but nothing that a good day of rest wouldn't cure.

"Xanatos!" Goliath all but shouted into his receiver. "Xanatos, come in!"

But all he could was static.

"There's no word!" Goliath shouted out to the others. "Everyone double-time! Something is very wrong here!"

Flaring his wings wider to gain more altitude, Goliath raised himself higher into the air, with the others following after him. A few minutes later, they arrived in the courtyard of the old castle… 

The first thing Goliath noticed was the main door to the Great Hall, as it swung hanging barely on its hinges, looking as though it had been bashed open from the inside out.

Goliath rushed inside, and found an awesome sight welcoming him.

The Hall was in ruins… Most of the furniture was broken and overturned, and there were clawmarks on the wall combined with laser burns. A few groaning sounds reached his sensitive ears, and Goliath turned to see some of Xanatos's guards lying on the floor, looking as though they had just been through a central American war.

"See to them!" Goliath ordered his mentor, as he continued on his way to the dungeon cells.

Hudson remained behind, seeing to the fallen guards, checking their injuries. Some of them had just had the hell beaten out of them, whilst others… had not been so fortunate.

Brooklyn and Lex also remained behind, as Broadway lowered his clan-second gently onto the floor, and Aster placed the clan-brains right beside him. They left them to Hudson's care, and quickly went after Goliath.

They soon reached the Dungeon-cells, expecting to find their leader there, and sure enough they did… but they also found something else that they had also been expecting, and dreading.

The bars on the two cells doors that had once held the alternate Goliath and the Hudson counterpart called Adhamh, had been ripped open from the inside out, like the Great Hall door. Except that these bars had literally been ripped, not bashed, open.

"Whoa," Aster breathed, looking at the mess in front of him. "I know this guy isn't you exactly, but even so he should have the same strength and all… Didn't think you were this strong though?"

"I'm not," Goliath growled. "When Xanatos was our enemy, he had these cells all fitted to hold each of us, on the off chance that he may need to contain us.  He made particular sure that the cell-bars were strong enough to even hold me. And after our run-in with Thailog, I helped Xanatos to ensure that the cells were double strong enough for when we eventually captured Thailog, and would hold him securely."

Aster gave a low whistle, as he surveyed the damage. "They must have one hell of a steroid pill in their universe."

"Xanatos!" Goliath suddenly realised, and turned to race out the room. The three of them made their way to the CEO's office, but only got about halfway when they bumped, almost literally, into the CEO. He too looked like he had been through war and back, as he walked with a small leap, clutching a laser gun at his side.

"Xanatos, what happened?" Goliath urgently enquired.

Xanatos gasped, as he tried moving his leaping leg, hissing through the pain that it caused. "Goliath, the other one that is, broke out of his cell… How he did this is a mystery to us? That cell, with your help, was made so strong that not even a pack of mad lions could have broken their way out, let alone you or your evil twin. And even if the bars hadn't been dense enough, the electricity that flowed through them was enough to barbeque a herd of elephants."

"Obviously not strong enough," Aster muttered.

"This cannot be," Goliath swore. "No Gargoyle should have been able to break free of that cell, no one!"

"No one… " Aster added. "… No one without some help."

"There was no one else in the cell-room with him," Xanatos told them. "Except Adhamh, and he was just as much trapped there as his companion."

"That's not the kind of help I was thinking of. I meant… _mystical_ help."

"The Venes!" Goliath snarled.

"Right," Aster snorted. "We should have realised that when they recruited them, they would have also given them a helping hand."

"But why?" Xanatos moaned, as he moved his battered arm. "Why go through all this trouble? We don't have anything they…" He paused, suddenly realising something. "Oh no…"

"What?" Aster asked, but Goliath was quick to answer.

"Sarah!" Goliath cried out, and raced on all fours to the room where she had been kept before they had left that evening.

He soon reached the room, but even before he reached there he knew he was too late.

The door of the room had, like the others, been ripped off its hinges and thrown across the corridor. Goliath hurried, but the room was empty and in shambles.

"Goliath!" Aster's voice called out, as he hurried after his own leader's counterpart. He stopped when he saw the state of the room. "Ohhh… crap!"

"It was all a set-up," Goliath confirmed everyone's worst thought. "Adhamh and the other, they allowed themselves to be caught, all so they could get their claws on Sarah for the Venes."

"Oh Geez," Aster swore.

Goliath stood amidst the ruins of the room for a few moments, and then…

"RRRRRAAAAARRRRGGHHHHHHHH!!" He roared his frustration and anger to the heavens.

00000000000000000000

**Bedford Hotel: **

"Nicely done, my dark warriors!" Cecile said, pleased. "I knew the spell I gave you would give you enhanced strength, but I couldn't be certain how effective it would be against Xanatos's defences. What with that Fey of his, you never know what kind of tricks he has up his sleeve."

The twisted version of Goliath smirked, as he held the seemingly little girl over his shoulder.

"Your charms worked a treat, lass," Adhamh sniggered. "The fools never knew what hit' em till it was too late."

Thailog stayed where he was, behind Cecile. The fact that these weren't clones, but actual counter versions of the clan was extremely difficult for him to believe. If they were clones then that would be easy, as someone could have just programmed them to act as dark and twisted as they were.

But to know that these were the Gargoyles themselves from a parallel world where the clan had evolved differently… was almost impossible. 

The dark Goliath then dropped the infant child down on the ground right in front of the Vene girl.

"Welcome home, Sarah," Cecile said sweetly. "We've missed you."

"I know," Sarah said simply, her eyes wide and emotionless. "I _always_ know."

To Be Continued… 


	7. Chapter 7: part 29

_**All the characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyright Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company.  
No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder.  
All original characters are the property of Storyseeker.**_

0000000000

**Eyrie Building:**

Goliath roared in frustration, smashing his fist through one wall.

Xanatos limped into the room, cursing as he saw the damage. "They've taken her?" he asked for confirmation.

Goliath just nodded, breathing heavily. "And now the Venes have gotten back their private Seer, making them more powerful than ever!"

Aster didn't say anything, and just stood where he was, staring at the counter-Goliath of his late leader, and at the shattered room in silence.

Something told him that things were only just going to get worse from now on…

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**Bedford Hotel: **

"Take her to her room," Cecile said smugly to her brothers.

Damien and Nathan grinned, as they took the shoulders of the little Oracle, dragging her roughly to one of the rooms they had prepared for her.

"You did well," she congratulated the alternate clan.

"Is that it then?" Thailog suddenly asked. "Is that all these guys were summoned here for, and now you're sending them back?"

Cecile scoffed. "As if I would waste valuable time and magic just to bring these guys here for a simple kidnapping job! Still… " She looked to the dark twins of the clan. "You did do your job splendidly, so you should be rewarded. So I will send you back to your own world, if that is what you wish?"

Adhamh laughed. "Don't make no matter what world we be in, lass," he announced. "Our clan is long since dead, our time gone, and we are in a strange new land. From what we've seen, this world ain't any different from the one you just brought us from."

"That's what I thought you'd say," Cecile smirked, looking to Thailog. "With that being the case, there's no point in sending you back then… Not when you could do so much better here, by wasting your doubles!"

Adhamh grinned. "T'would be a pleasure."

0000000000

**Destine Manor; Next Night: **

Lana moaned, as she awoke. She had woken from her stone-sleep, only for her to go back to sleep again (in the human way), mainly because her mother and grandmother wanted to see if they could do anything about her nightmares.

"Lana honey, are you all right?" her mother, Darlene, asked frantically.

Lana just nodded. "I'm fine."

"Did you have any other dreams?" Demona then asked.

Lana frowned. "I'm not sure," she said, seemingly confused. "I felt something that felt like the beginning of a dream, but… It was like something was blocking it from getting to me. Like being in a locked room with something banging on the other side of the door, with no way in."

Demona nodded in satisfaction. "Sounds like the block spell is doing its work well," she said.

"Yes, but how long will it last?" Darlene muttered to her mother. "You said so yourself that these Venes have access to all sorts of mystical knowledge from nearly every era of every corner of the globe… Who knows what kind of power they have at their command? They might easily be able to compact your block spell."

"Then we'll just have to fight them with a stronger one then," Demona told her, frustrated. "In the mean time, excuse me." She turned to leave.

"Mother, where are you going now?" Darlene asked. "You've been on the phone constantly tonight."

"In case you've forgotten," Demona half-sneered. "I do have a business to run."

"At night?"

"When I do my business hours is none of your concern, Darlene," Demona told her, as if in matter of fact. "Just tend to your own children, and I'll tend to the work that puts a roof over our heads and prevents humans from discovering us!"

With that, she left, leaving behind one large frown on her daughter's face…

"She's definitely up to something," she mumbled.

From down the hall, in the Living Room, Jarred was listening to more of Griff's wartime stories, which he never got tired of listening to, nor was Griff ever tired of telling. Gem was sitting in her playpen, playing with some of her toys.

Then a knock on the balcony door sounded. Jarred instantly got up to go answer it, but Griff hushed him, telling him to stay back. With everything that had been going on with the Venes and now the clan's dark halves from another world, he didn't want to take any chances.

He went up to the window, peeling back the curtain top take a peek… and saw Gabriel waiting patiently to be let in.

"Welcome to the house of joy, Gabriel," Griff greeted him jokily. "If you're here to see Lana, she's just taking a nap at the moment."

"Again?" Gabriel said, confounded. "But she already took one earlier on?"

Griff shrugged. "Don't ask me. Can't figure out what's wrong, but whatever it is, it's got her mother and grandmother into a right tuff."

Darlene at that moment came in. Seeing Gabriel, she sighed and greeted him… "Hello, Gabriel. Please come in." She waved him in.

"Are… you okay?" Gabriel asked hesitantly, sensing something was wrong. "Is Lana all right?"

Darlene nodded. "She's fine. She's a lot better now actually. You can go in and see her if you'd like?"

Gabriel nodded, smiling, and went in the direction of his lover's room.

"Is she really okay?" Jarred asked with caution. It was no secret that he and his sister fought like cats and dogs, but he did care for her and didn't want to see her come to no harm… not that he would want anyone to know that of course.

Darlene gently squeezed his shoulder. "She's fine," she said assuredly. "Now that she's had a better sleep and probably rested, she's a lot better." She looked to Griff. "Jarred honey, why don't you go and see what your grandma is up to?"

Jarred frowned at her. "Oh, mom, Griff was just getting to the good part! Why do I have to go?"

Darlene shrugged. "All right, sweetheart, if you want then you can stay… Me and Griff are just gonna sit here and kiss all night, okay?"

Jarred's face went pale with horror, as his mother went over to Griff, sitting right next to him, planting a large kiss on his beak.

"I'll see what Grandma's up to!" he quickly said, rushing up out of the room.

Darlene smirked. "That trick never fails."

"What, so we're not planning to sit here making kissy faces all night?" Griff asked, a funny look of disappointment on his face.

Darlene sighed. "I'm tempted, believe me," she told him. "But at the moment, I'm just so tired… What with Lana and now mother acting strange… "

"Strange?"

She nodded. "Whenever I need to talk to her, she always says she has other things to do. For the last couple of nights, she's been on the phone almost constantly. She claims it's to do with her business, but… I don't know."

"What makes you say that?" Griff asked interestedly.

Darlene shrugged. "Probably nothing," she admitted. "It's just… Well, I always had a pretty good sense of whenever mother was up to something. But then again, it could just be my imagination playing up."

"Have you tried talking to her?"

Darlene scoffed. "Try every hour! But no… whenever I bring it up, she says she has something to do."

"It does sound suspicious," Griff frowned. The clan had warned him about Demona's past, but with the way that Darlene seemed to get on so well with her, he thought it was all water under the bridge. He hadn't seen any point in dragging up past demons.

"Oh I don't think it's anything bad though," Darlene said suddenly. "No matter what she says or does, I know mother would never do anything that would risk hurting the kids. She's just always been secretive, as that's the way she is. It's probably nothing more than that."

"Are you sure?"

Darlene sighed. "I hope so."

From down the hallway, Jarred hurried along to his grandmother's study, as that was the place she normally hung out. Most kids would be annoyed or find it boring to go into their grandparent's study, but then again… not many kid's grandparent's studies were sorcerer's labs.

Jarred never got tired of coming in here, as he opened the door to the study. His grandmother's study had all the characteristics of a classic sorcerer's room… It was just like something out of Harry Potter, with dark cauldrons, spellbooks and bottles of herbs and other such ingredients aligned on all the shelves, and there was even a skull with a candle lighted upon it.

He saw his grandmother sitting at her desk, writing something.

Smiling confidently, he walked over to her, not even bothering to knock. "Hey, Gran!" he said brightly. "What you doing?"

Demona nearly jumped out of her seat, as she spun around, glaring down at her grandson.

"What the hell are you doing here?" she snapped, her eyes flaring slightly.

Jarred paused in shock. He had never seen his grandmother this angry before? Sure, he had seen her angry with members of the clan or Thailog, but never with him.

"Um, I'm sorry… " Jarred said unsurely. "I didn't mean to surprise you. Mom said I should come see how you were doing, and… "

"Do you always do what your mother tells you?" Demona continued snapping.

Boy, was that ever a hard question for Jarred to answer… did he always do what his mother told him?

"Errr, yes?" Jarred said with more than a little uneasiness.

"Well, now you can start obeying me then!" Demona said. "Get out!"

Jarred stared at her, feeling upset. "But… Gran, I just wanted to… "

"Leave… now!" Demona ordered.

Jarred felt his lower lip begin to quiver, but he sucked it up and turned to leave the room. One thing he knew about his grandmother was that she didn't like to see weakness, and she often viewed a show of emotion as weakness.

He quietly left the room, part of him expecting to hear his grandmother stop him to say she was sorry or something…

He turned the knob of the door, left the room, closed it behind him, and… nothing.

Jarred felt like crying. His grandmother had never spoken to him like that, and as far as he knew he hadn't done anything wrong… had he?

If he had done, then whatever it was it must have been pretty bad.

0000000000

**Eyrie Building: **

"How is everyone?" Lex asked Brooklyn, as he walked into the TV room. He had just spent the last couple of hours going through all of the security footage, updating the security systems and such.

Brooklyn lay exhausted on the couch, resting his aching wings. The night's activities had really put him through a real workout. "Bout as well as can be expected," he replied, sighing. "A couple of Xanatos's guards were killed during the breakout, three had to be taken to the emergency hospital, and the rest were lucky enough to escape with just some broken bones, a few cuts… and one with an exceedingly bruised ego."

"Who's that then?"

Almost as though on cue, a loud roar that could only be Goliath was heard throughout the numerous hallways of the castle.

"Next question, please," Brooklyn said with a humourless smile.

From beyond the TV room and halfway across the castle, Goliath was reaching breaking point. His anger at the Venes, and frustration at their seemingly hopeless battle was now beyond mere rage. The fire of his temper at that moment would have rifled even the flames of Hell.

"Goliath, please!" Hudson's cries seemingly went on unnoticed. "This isn't helping anyone!"

"It's helping me!" Goliath roared, as he smashed his fist through a wall while lashing his tail wildly about, tossing furniture over and whipping them across the room.

Hudson frowned. It seemed as though history was repeating itself. He thought Goliath had been able to beat his demons when concerning the Venes, but apparently they had come back with a vengeance. And he didn't think Xanatos was going to appreciate the amount of damage that Goliath was now doing to his Hall… particularly when he got the bill.

"Lad, PLEASE!" Hudson insisted on his former pupil, grabbing his arm, holding it in place before he could devastate another chair.

Goliath turned his white-heated glare to him, but Hudson merely held his glare with a calm one of his own, staring him down. After a while, Goliath's eyes faded as his anger seemed to go under, but the glare remained.

"This is going on for too long, Hudson!" Goliath hissed. "So many lives have been lost because of those… _Venes_!" He spat the name as though it were venom. "I don't know how we're supposed to defeat them if… "

"You can't," a voice suddenly spoke up, and the two of them turned to see Owen approaching them.

"What do ye mean, trickster?" Hudson asked.

"I mean what I say," Owen replied. His voice, normally stoic and emotionless, now seemed to have a thread of disappointment and grief within it, but was still buried deep beneath countless layers of his strict almost robot-like self-control. "You can't beat the Venes."

Goliath snarled. "If this is supposed to be a joke, Puck, then it is in…!"

"You know I don't joke when I am in this form, Goliath. And even if I were, I would never joke about a subject as dire as this… " Owen seemed honestly distressed then. "I regret saying this, Goliath, but the Venes are just too powerful for you to overcome."

At the sight of Goliath looking about to retaliate, Owen held up his hand to silence him. "I mean no disrespect to you nor your clan, Goliath. I am merely making a point here… When it comes to resources, the Venes have you beat on all sides. Their family hold the vastest collection of magical talismans collected throughout the ages before even your most learned archaeologists can remember. Their mystical knowledge has no equal so you can't beat them with magic, despite having a sorceress and a Fey on your side. They own one of the largest multi-national corporations in the world, so they have their fingers in every business there is, and no doubt have connections in the Illumaniti as well, which gives them access to _everything_."

Goliath was clenching his fists tightly, looking close to breaking the bones within them just by sheer force. His eyes however were another story… They looked stricken, as though pained by the truth of what Owen was saying.

"So what are ye saying…?" Hudson began. "…That we can't defeat them?"

Owen shook his head. "No, that's not what I'm saying at all. I'm just saying you can't beat them."

Goliath frowned. "What are you talking about?" he demanded.

"What I mean is… as long as you try to fight the Venes like you're fighting one of your usual enemies, then you will loose. When it comes to your usual tactics, fighting the enemy head-on, using Mr. Xanatos's resources within his company or the Illumaniti, or even having me as Puck teach Master Alexander a spell to aid in your war with them… all will ultimately fail. The Venes are just too powerful and too smart for that. They didn't get all the power they have today by being stupid, after all."

"Then how do we defeat them?" Hudson said, exasperated.

"Find another way," Owen said simply. "As I said, you cannot beat the Venes with all your usual attack stratagems, as they are too strong. So you need to find another way to fight them with, something they wont see coming, something they'll be completely unprepared for."

"And just how are we supposed to do that?" Goliath frowned.

Owen shrugged. "That, I'm afraid, is your problem, Goliath. I am merely here to advise or assist, not to devise battle-plans. But I would advise you to hurry… The Venes would normally have not been too bothered to arrange a recapture for Miss Sarah. If they wanted her back, then that must mean they need her for something."

"But no pressure," Hudson grumbled.

"Either way," Owen continued, "this discussion will have to wait, as Master Alexander requires his dinner. Good night to you." With that, he bowed shortly and departed the Great Hall.

Hudson spared him a glare. Why couldn't he ever just tell them what they needed to know?

"Get the others," Goliath said finally. "And ask Lexington to contact Demona, Darlene and Griff. We need to get everyone in on this. We're going to decide what to do about the Venes once and for all."

0000000000

**Destine Manor: **

Darlene sat on the sofa with Gem on her lap and Griff's arm around her shoulders, gently holding her.

"Sometimes I envy Gem here," Darlene said quietly. "To be so young and innocent, and almost completely oblivious to everything around her. Whereas I just feel worried all the time."

"We all want that a lot of the time," Griff told her. "I remember during the Blitz, there were so many times I just wanted to curl up and shut myself off from all the bombs and air-raids."

Darlene smiled. "I can't imagine you hiding away from anything."

Griff shrugged. "I like to think of myself as a bold, daring hero, but hey… I'm just a Gargoyle, some as any other. Even I get nervous and scared sometimes."

Darlene was about so say something when Jarred suddenly came in.

"Hey, honey," she greeted her son. "I thought you were… " She suddenly noticed his tear-streaked face. "Jarred…what on earth's the matter?" She handed Gem over to Griff and went over to her son.

"Gran… "Jarred sniffed. "I went to see Grandma, but she… "

"She what?"

Jarred's lip quivered. "I went to see her in her study, but she… she was working on something, and she shouted at me and told me to get out."

Darlene hugged her son, patting his back. "It's okay," she told him. "If your Grandma was working, like you say, then she was probably just stressed. She always gets mad whenever she has something to work on." She patted his head. "Look, why don't you go into the kitchen and have some ice-cream? That'll male you feel better."

Jarred wiped his eyes. "Chocolate ripple?" he asked.

Darlene nodded.

"Okay!" he raced into the kitchen hurriedly.

Meanwhile, Darlene just frowned as her son ran off. "Okay, now I'm definitely sure something's up," she told Griff. "Mother's always had a temper, but in all the time we've been here, she's never snapped at Jarred before."

"Didn't you say once that she sometimes acted a little weird around the kids?" Griff asked her curiously, whilst bouncing Gem on his knee. "Whenever she remembered they were part human?"

"Yes, but whenever she did that, she always just left them alone for a while," Darlene told him. "She never once shouted at them or anything. I have to go talk to her."

"Do you really want to do that?"

"She just shouted at one of my kids, so yes I do," Darlene growled. "I love my mother terribly, but she had no right to speak to Jarred like that. She knows how fond of her he is." She was about to step out of the room, when…

The telephone started to ring, interrupting her flood of angry emotions…

"Oh," Darlene swore, and snatched up the phone handle. "Yes?" she said, rather snippily. "What is it…? Oh, hello, Lexington…. Yes… Yes… Oh but… All right, I understand… We'll be there shortly. Bye." She hung up.

"That was Lexington at the Eyrie," she told Griff. "Goliath has called an emergency meeting and wants everyone to meet there right away. Apparently, they've had another skirmish with the Venes."

Griff nodded. "All right, but what about Gem and Jarred? They're obviously too young to help with this kind of problem."

"Lana will stay with them," she explained. "After what she's been going through lately, I don't want her anywhere near a possible battle-field. You go and speak to Jarred and leave Gem with him, and I'll go talk to her, Gabriel, and get my mother. I guess my little talk with her will have to wait."

Griff nodded, and got up with Gem in his arms, heading to the kitchen, while Darlene headed towards her daughter's room.

0000000000

**Eyrie Building, One Hour Later: **

The clan had soon gathered together, and for the last few minutes all they could agree upon was how near damn impossible it was to fight the Venes.

The gathering composed that of the clan, including Darlene, Griff, Gabriel, Arthur and Aster.

Darlene had asked Lana to remain behind to look after her little brother and sister, and as for Demona… she had just refused point blank to come. And Darlene had been in too much of a hurry to argue, and decided that at least the kids would have someone else to watch over them… even if her mother was acting a little odd lately.

"What can we do?" Brooklyn snarled. "Every time we think we've got one up on them, they turn around and shower us with some new trick they've got up their sleeve!"

"Can't the Fey do anything?"

"Excalibur is our only best hope against them."

"I already told you I will NOT use Excalibur against children! No matter who they are!"

"ENOUGH!" Aster suddenly roared out.

At everyone's surprised look at him, he continued. "Look, I get you're all stressed out about these Vene enemies of yours, but as I keep telling you… We have bigger problems! Has anyone forgotten The Entity? Big non-corporeal guy, immense power, can destroy your entire reality?"

"We have not forgotten, Aster, but… " Goliath began.

"But nothing!" Aster exclaimed. "We've gone down this road before, Goliath. I understand the Venes are a threat, I don't deny that. But The Entity can and probably will destroy your entire world and countless others unless we stop him! That HAS to take precedence over a bunch of power-mad kids, surely?"

"We've discussed this, Aster," Goliath countered. "The Venes have power perhaps just as great as your enemy does. And at the moment they pose the greater threat… "

Aster snorted. "If you believe that then you really are a fool."

Goliath gave a warning growl, but Aster was unfazed.

"What would you have us do?" Brooklyn asked Aster. "You've told us that the Entity is practically all-powerful, so what could we do against him?"

"And do NOT say about allying ourselves with the Venes or anything," Goliath warned him. "You've seen for yourself that they are not to be trusted."

"But what can we do?" Lex asked, frustrated. "On the one claw, we have a trans-dimensional Entity who can wrap time around his little finger… And on the other we have a family of the most powerful sorcerers in the world with virtually no vulnerabilities! What can we do against odds like those?"

Angela suddenly frowned.

Goliath looked at his daughter. "You have something to say, daughter?" he asked.

"I don't know… maybe," she thought out loud. "I'm just curious about something."

"What?"

"Well, these Venes are supposed to be the most powerful enchanters in the world, right?" Angela asked.

The clan nodded.

"Well… how come none of them are immortal?"

"Huh?" all the clan said.

"Why aren't any of their clan immortal?" she repeated. "They have access to all kinds of spells, and they even have Fey blood within their veins, yet from what Puck has told us, they all live mortal lives and eventually die. Why is that?"

The clan all looked dumbfounded at the floor, even Aster.

"Good question," Aster admitted. "Anyone feel free to answer."

"_I believe I can answer that." _

Everyone turned to see Owen entering the Hall.

"Owen, is Xanatos all right?" Broadway asked.

"He is fine," the major-domo replied. "He will require several days rest, but other than that he is well. I believe you were enquiring about the Venes and why none of them live longer than the average mortal?"

"Yes," Goliath nodded. "I have to admit that has puzzled me a little. With all the spells they possess, I would have thought immortality would be a simple thing for them to accomplish?"

"Not really," Owen answered, walking into the centre of the clan's gathering. With all of their attention focused on him, he continued…

"My people, as you know, are vessels of pure magic. Almost no spell is beyond our reach, but… you mortals are another story."

Goliath frowned.

"When a sorcerer casts a spell, no matter how small or insignificant it maybe," Owen explained. "The magic they use drains a small part of their life-force, depending on the strength of the spell they cast, unless they use a conduit like the Grimorum or another such spellbook."

Angela's emotions took a small turn for the worse, as she remembered with grief that that was how the Magus had perished. He had attempted to cast a spell on Avalon to defeat the Wyrd Sisters, but he had done it without the Grimorum, resulting in the magic practically draining all that was left of his life-force.

She hurriedly pushed those feelings to the side, knowing now was not the time to remember sadder times.

"But the Venes haven't used conduits in centuries," Owen said. "When they find a new magic to learn and add to their collection, they don't just learn the spells… They integrate it into their very bloodline. It becomes part of them, so they are able to cast it as we Fey do, without the use of a conduit. _But_… at a price."

"What price?" Goliath queried.

"The Venes have some Fey magic in them, that's true, but they are still not true Fey. The Fey, as I just said, are vessels of pure magic, which is why we are able to cast countless spells without the use of a spellbook to channel our mystic energy. But the Venes, no matter how powerful they are, are not pure Fey. They still have mortal bodies, so the magic they use requires a conduit to channel it."

"I wouldn't think that would be a problem?" Brooklyn said. "I mean, from what you've told us, they must have numerous talismans from every era and continent to choose from."

"It's not that simple," Owen told him. "The Vene's magic is unique. They've added so many different magics from various cultures into their bloodline that no mere one conduit can be enough for them anymore. They've added so many magics into them that no conduit will be enough to house and channel all their energy for them. It would be overloaded, like a computer given too many tasks to do at once."

"So what happened then?" Broadway asked.

Owen shrugged. "You have to understand that the Venes don't just use one type of magic for whatever spell they cast… The magic they possess in their blood is from countless magical cultures, from simple Scottish sorcery to Voodoo black magic. So every time they cast a spell, the magic they use to cast it comes from all the magics they've assimilated over the centuries. This makes them exceedingly powerful in whatever spell they cast, but also makes them profoundly weak."

"How's that?"

"Since I said that no conduit can help them, then that means the magic in them requires another source to channel itself through, which basically means their own life force."

"And all that magic in them must require a lot of life force to fuel it," Goliath deduced.

"Exactly. Just one minor spell would end up costing the Venes half of their lifespan."

"So how are they still alive then?" Brooklyn asked. "Cecile's used more than enough spells on us, and she doesn't look any older today than she did when we first met her."

"My guess would be is that they have found a loophole around the whole thing. No doubt by using spells of immortality that they have gained throughout the aeons, they have managed to increase their life expectancy rate."

"Sooo… they are immortal?" Broadway said, confused.

"No," Owen said, shaking his head. "Even immortality has its limits, my friends. Because of all the magic they cast, the immortality spells that the Venes have used upon themselves only grant them the average lifespan of an ordinary mortal, no more."

"So they need the immortality spells to keep them alive?" Goliath said out loud. "If they were to stop using them… "

"Then the next spell they would use would no doubt be their last," Owen finished. "But, Goliath, I know what you are thinking, and the answer is we do not know… We do not know if the Venes use the immortal spells only once, or every day of their lives. For all we know, their elders might have just used the spell once for them all their descendants. There's no way to know for certain."

Goliath snarled in frustration.

"Then maybe we should go back to Aster's Entity guy after all then?" Broadway suggested. "We're gonna have to take care of him sooner or later, and we're no closer to solving the Vene problem anyway."

Goliath gave him a thin look.

"Orrr… not?" Broadway added nervously.

**To Be Continued… **


	8. Chapter 8: PART 30

_**All the characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyright Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company.  
No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder.  
All original characters are the property of Storyseeker.1.**_

_**Many thanks to Aesop for his assistance in everything from beta reading to suggestions and ideas! AND for keeping me sane in my darkest hours!**_

0000000000

**Eyrie Building: **

"I'm not saying we should forget about the Venes," Brooklyn defended himself. "I'm just saying we should face the facts. For the moment, the Venes are untouchable. They have all their magic to protect themselves, and now they have our twisted mirror versions to defend them. So maybe we should take a time-out from them and turn our sights to Aster's problem instead?"

Goliath growled deeply below his breath, partly in frustration at the mere suggestion of forgetting about the Venes, even if just for a short time, but also because he knew deep down Brooklyn was right.

Brooklyn had begun defending Broadway's suggestion that they should help Aster in fighting the Entity, implying all the facts that they had about it and the Venes. He had made a pretty good argument, one that not even Goliath could deny.

"I have a plan," Aster suddenly said, earning stares from all the clan.

"Since when?" Goliath demanded.

"I have actually been studying a number of magics for a number of years," Aster added. "At first all my searches proved fruitless, but over time I believe I may have come up with a idea to take down the Entity."

"What is your plan?" Brooklyn asked.

"During one of my visits to one of the other alternate realities I've visited in the past," Aster explained. "I told you that one of the clans in them gave me an alternate Phoenix Gate, one that travels through other dimensions, so it would allow me to keep up with the Entity."

"Yeah, so?"

"And in another dimension I dropped in, I also found a spell," Aster continued. "This spell is like a… I suppose you could say it's a bit like steroids. It gives whoever uses it a kick-start with their abilities, whatever they are, increasing their power levels almost tenfold."

Goliath's face looked on in interest. "Could this spell be used against the Venes?"

"Forget about the Venes, will you?" Aster snapped. "From what I've seen of them anyway, even tenfold wouldn't bring you anywhere close to fighting them. They have too much energy packed in from their family's aeons worth of magic-hunting."

Goliath eyed him dangerously, but said nothing.

"When combined with the power of the Phoenix Gate," Aster continued. "The spell would cause something like a rift in time and space, and as I once told you, the Entity is a being that exists outside the space/time continuum. This kind of phenomenon would attract it like a bug to heat. Once we have him where we want him, we can use the spell again to enhance Darlene, Demona and even Puck's magic to counteract the Entity's, giving us the chance to destroy him once and for all!"

The way he spoke then, with an over eager excitement, reminded Goliath far too much of Demona when she had attempted to exterminate humanity on the night of the Hunter's Moon. Even the look in Aster's eyes seemed all too familiar, disconcerting him gravely.

"Sounds easy," Lex remarked. "_Too_ easy."

"Trust me, it isn't," Aster replied. "Getting the Entity where we want him is going to be hard enough, but the spell is complex and overly powerful. Even with Darlene, Demona and all of us working together, the power may be too much and could cause an explosion where we could all find ourselves being cast to the four corners of the globe simultaneously."

"Is it wise then to have so many sorcerers in one place?" Darlene asked. "Why not just use one?"

Aster shook his head. "The Entity exists outside time and space, and can destroy entire realities. For all we know, even the three of you with the spell might not be enough to destroy him, but it's our best chance. However, worst-case scenario is that the spell will not destroy the whole world. Most likely it will just blow up a few blocks… or possibly the city."

"We cannot endanger innocent lives!" Goliath exclaimed, as he heard Aster's last words. "I will not aid in the destruction of… "

"And if we do nothing then the Entity could take out this entire world!" Aster shot back. "We've been through this before, don't start again! It's kill or be killed, Goliath! Take out a few to save all! Sounds harsh, but that's the way it is. You were a warrior in medieval times, so don't tell me you don't understand!"

Goliath shut his mouth then. What Aster just said was true. Being a warrior, he had many times been presented with a terrible choice where he would have to sacrifice some to save all.

"Is there no other way?" he asked finally.

Aster shook his head. "This is the only way I've ever been able to find," he said, almost sorrowfully. "Believe me, if there was an easier way I would have found it by now, considering the amount of time I've spent searching."

Darlene kept mostly silent. On the one hand she feared what Aster was saying, for if something were to go wrong then her children would be in danger. Yet if what he said were true, then the Entity might end up destroying them anyway, along with everyone else.

"I think Aster is right," she said out loud, not even sure if she believed what she was saying. "I have children, and I would rather kill myself than put them in harm's way, but… As Aster said, unless the Entity is stopped then my children will be in danger anyway, along with everyone else in this world."

The rest of the clan stared at her, some with surprise, others with understanding and some with pity, knowing that this must have been a hard decision for her to make.

"_Thank you," _Aster silently said, mouthing his gratitude to her, though she did not know why. It seemed clear to her what they all should do. She had just been voicing what clearly must be everyone's opinion.

Goliath frowned, as he considered Aster's proposal, but then sighed…

"It seems we are left with few options," he admitted, looking at the young dimensional-jumper. "Very well, Aster. For now we will make preparations for your plan, but this does not mean that we will not also be looking for another one."

Aster nodded, satisfied that Goliath seemed to be listening to him at last.

0000000000

**Destine Manor:**

Demona sat still, as she listened on her receiver to the clan's discussion. Although she had no wish to go to one of the clan's gatherings, that did not mean she had no desire to hear it, which was why she had placed a small radio transmitter upon Darlene.

She frowned, as she listened to Aster. His idea was sound, but there were too many variables. Despite his assurances, there was no guarantee that the Entity would follow his spell to its source, and if it didn't then the whole spell would be for nothing.

Then she heard about the spell he was planning to use, to enhance another sorcerer's magic, and she stopped.

The spells sounded very familiar.

Getting up, she went to check some of her shelves, containing numerous spell-books she had collected over the centuries.

After a few minutes, she soon found the one she was searching for… It was slightly different from what Aster had described, but its purpose was the same, to enhance another sorcerer's magic.

She frowned again, scratching her chin in thought. Finally, she picked up her phone and dialled,

"Lightning," she said into the receiver. "I require your assistance now."

0000000000

Elsewhere in the house, Lana sat reading her magazine while Jarred was sitting at the table, studying some of the magic-books that their grandmother had given to them to read. They were nothing more than simple basic spells that any apprentice sorcerer could use… changing the colour of inanimate objects, making a dog meow and a cat bark, that sort of thing.

"What are mom and Griff up to?" Jarred asked.

Lana shrugged. "Who knows? Ever since we moved to New York, I haven't a clue what she gets up to. Before, the worst we had to expect from her was her going out for dinner with dad. Now we've got monsters, trans-dimensional entities, sorcerers, demented clones… "

"All right, I get it!" Jarred interrupted her. "Sheesh!"

Lana had paused for a moment when she mentioned 'demented clones', referring of course to Thailog. The spells her grandmother had placed in her mind had helped her to rest peacefully, but she could still feel him trying to enter her mind.

'He'll never let me have peace,' she thought.

Just then, the balcony doors opened in the other room, signalling someone had returned home.

"Mom?" Lana called out.

"Yeah, we're here," Darlene's voice replied. A few moments she entered the room, together with Griff and Gabriel.

Lana smiled, as Gabriel came over to her, enveloping her in his arms and wings, embracing her softly yet firmly.

"I missed you," she said coyly into his ear, enjoying the feel of the strong muscles of his arms.

"I missed you more," he replied, nuzzling her ear affectionately.

"Ahem," Darlene coughed. "Need I remind you that your mother is still in the room?"

"What? You can have a social life with Griff and I can't with Gabriel?" Lana scoffed.

"Oh yuck," Jarred muttered.

Darlene ignored him for the moment. "Lana, where's your grandmother?" she then asked.

"Still in her study," Lana noted, not taking her head from Gabriel's chest. "Hasn't come out all night."

"Fine," Darlene inwardly seethed, and started out of the room. "Griff, Gabriel, please make yourselves comfortable. I need to speak with my mother."

Griff merely nodded, as she made her way out of the room, before going over to talk to Jarred.

"So how's the studying going?" he asked in a friendly voice.

Jarred merely shrugged. "Fine, I guess," he muttered.

"Problems, my boy?" Inwardly he already knew what the problem was, as Darlene had filled him in on their way to the Eyrie, explaining how Demona had apparently lost her temper with her grandson. He had been surprised, as he thought out of all of Darlene's children, Jarred was Demona's favourite, seeing as he shared her fascination for sorcery.

But Jarred was clearly not in a talkative mood, as he just shook his head, not even bothering to raise his head to look at him, keeping his nose in his book.

Griff took a peek at the book's title, and recognised it as one of the many spell-books that his clan had at their shop 'Into The Mystic'. He himself had read it once years ago when he had been a hatchling.

Coming from a clan that owned a magic shop as he did, basic training in sorcery was kind of a necessity, but he was no sorcerer. He had neither been interested in the subject, nor had he the magical Gift that all would-be sorcerers required to practise mysticism, but he knew the basics at least.

"Need any help?" he offered.

While he attempted friendly conversation with the boy, Jarred's mother had in mind a different type of conversation intended between her and her mother.

"Mother!" Darlene demanded, as she stormed up to her mother's study. Waiting even knocking, she twisted the doorhandle, only to find it locked.

Cursing under her breath, she banded on the door. "Mother, let me in!"

A few moments later, the sound of a lock being turned was heard, and the door opened, revealing Demona's face looking inquisitively at her. "Yes?" she asked.

Darlene walked into the room. "Why did you lock the door?"

"Why shouldn't I?" Demona said sharply. "This is my house, and this is my private study. I have a right to lock one of my rooms if I wish, don't I?"

Darlene frowned in wonder, as her mother had never bothered locking doors before, at least not while she had been living there, or even when she had been a hatchling, which was part of the reason why she had been able to summon that Fire Spirit that nearly burnt down the whole house.

But she shook off this wonder for the moment, as she had bigger fish to fry. "I've come to talk about Jarred," she explained.

"What about him?" Demona replied, seemingly uncaring.

"He told me you and he had some sort of fight," Darlene queried. "That you shouted at him. Is that true?"

Demona scoffed. "It was hardly a fight."

"But did you shout at him?" Darlene insisted.

Her mother shrugged. "Maybe, maybe not."

Darlene hissed in frustration. Why did her mother have to be so damn mysterious and secretive? "Did you or didn't you?"

Her mother gave her a hard stare. "Yes," she then simply replied.

Darlene stared back at her, mildly in shock. "Why? What did he do to deserve… "

"He was interrupting an important experiment I was doing!" Demona snapped. "Need I tell you the importance of interrupting a sorceress at work? Don't tell me you've forgotten that much?"

Darlene sighed. "Of course not, mother. But I must ask you to at least be a little more sensitive to Jarred's feelings. He values your opinion over him more than anything."

"I have no time for this," Demona concluded.

"Mother, I'm not…. " Darlene started, but Demona was quick to interrupt.

"I said I have no time for this!" she snapped. "I still have much work to do, and your being here does NOT help. So please go!"

Darlene stuttered for a moment, but finally just shook her head and turned to leave, as she knew it was pointless to talk to her mother when she was like this.

As she passed the door, she thought she noticed a small cellphone on her mother's desk. Unfortunately, Demona left her no time to investigate and quickly ushered her out the door.

"I would also appreciate no more disturbances for tonight!" Demona declared, before slamming the door shut on her daughter.

0000000000

**Bedford Hotel: **

"Thailog!" Cecile's voice called him.

Thailog stifled a growl beneath his breath, but got up quickly to answer her, knowing better than to keep her waiting.

"What do you wish, my mistress?" he said, entering her room and using the title and manner he was told to address her with.

"I've been considering our new guests," she mused.

"You mean the alternatives," he replied. The Alternatives was more or less the term they had decided upon to use when referring to the dark counter-parts of the clan. "I thought you had decided they would be useful for now?"

"I know, and I stand by my decision," Cecile said snidely.

In truth, Thailog would be happier if Cecile were to dismiss the alternatives altogether, or kill them. Either way, as long as they got rid of them, he would be relieved, as they seemed too unbalanced and unstable for even his taste.

Their want for wine and bloodshed, and their unhealthy beastial lust, sickened him thoroughly. He could still remember the way they had bragged about the human females they had captured and assaulted earlier.

"Feeling threatened, Thailog?" Cecile said, grinning at him.

Thailog frowned. "From a clan of degenerated savages, puh-lease! Why you wish to keep them around is beyond me."

"Because they outsmarted and defeated Goliath and his clan," Cecile said. "That alone gives them more than enough reason to remain and aid us."

"The way they act, they appear more trouble than they're worth."

Cecile cocked an eyebrow at him. "Oh… and why is that? Because they attack and rape helpless females… Wasn't what you were guilty of when I first found you?"

Thailog's eyes flared red. "That was different!" he insisted.

Cecile laughed. "In what way? Lana, although a Gargoyle, is still pretty weak and defenceless compared to you. You wanted her, so you abducted her and raped her, all so that you could have a _good_ time. How is it any different from these guys?"

Thailog's fists were clenched tightly, ready to draw blood. "It was different!" he kept insisting. "I loved her and…!"

"Oh, and you did what you did out of love," Cecile giggled, deducing his words. "Buddy, I may not have Shakespeare's perspective on love, but even I know that people don't hurt the ones they supposedly love. What you did was just for plain old lust, nothing else and nothing more."

Thailog glared at her, but said nothing then.

Cecile patted his large arm with her hand. "Hey, don't get me wrong. I couldn't care less what you did or what you want to do with little miss perfect. You wanna track her down one night, make her your love slave or whatever, that's fine with me. Just do it on your own time! I still have work for you to do, and that includes dealing with the Alternatives."

Thailog looked down at her quizzically. "_Dealing_ with them? What am I supposed to be dealing with them about?"

Cecile shrugged. "Like you said, their intense lust for slaughter and rape is a little extreme. Although their services would be useful in dealing with the clan, I don't intend to spend all my time cleaning up after their messes! Therefore… you shall be in charge of them for now."

Thailog's eyes widened at her. "Me? Just how exactly am I supposed to lead them? In case you haven't noticed, they don't tend to take orders form anyone save themselves, let alone outsiders!"

Cecile waved her hand dismissively. "I'm sure you'll think of something, my dear Thailog. After all, you're the one who's always full of ideas."

'Not enough though to get rid of you apparently,' Thailog thought.

"Talk to them and deal with it!" Cecile ordered.

Thailog sighed, but nodded.

0000000000

The Alternatives had made their temporary home at the top floor of a penthouse building that was close to the Vene's hotel. Thankfully though, they had not needed to kill anyone this time, as whoever owned the apartment they were in now must have been away, seeing as the apartment had about a week's worth of dust in it.

Thailog felt uneasy, as he approached the apartment building. Needless to say he was not looking forward to dealing with this particular clan again. He had never thought it possible that he would end up meeting a clan that would cause him more disdain that Goliath's clan.

Landing on the balcony, he took a deep breath as he entered the French doors into the apartment.

The apartment was in absolute shambles. The alternate clan had wasted no time in making themselves at home. The fridge looked cleaned out, with bits and pieces of various food sources and drink bottles scattered all over the place, and the odd piece of furniture turned over.

'I see they've settled in okay,' Thailog thought.

He soon spotted his father's double, the alternate Goliath, lying stretched out drunk on a huge sofa with a bottle of wine in his claw. He made no move to get up and greet him, and for all he knew he could very well be unconscious.

The Hudson-twin who called himself Adhamh was, rather unbelievably, sitting in a chair in front of the TV, watching some program.

'I guess some things never change,' Thailog mused, and looked over to the kitchen where he then saw the scarred and skin-tattered Broadway double busy making a sandwich. 'Apparently so.'

He couldn't see the alternate Brooklyn and Lexington anywhere, meaning they had probably gone out somewhere, which was enough to make Thailog feel uneasy.

'Damn it,' Thailog swore inwardly. 'If those idiots are out chasing down women again, they'll have the whole city hunting us all down.'

"Adhamh!" he called out, demanding the attention of the elder. Although their Goliath was supposed to the clan's leader, it was clear he was just the muscle. Adhamh was the brains of the whole outfit.

"Well, if it isn't our new employer's bitch!" Adhamh yelled out, smirking at the dark lavender clone. "Your mistress know you're out of your cage, does she?"

Thailog's eyes flared red at him, but he restrained himself from hurling at the old savage and tearing him apart with his bare claws.

"She… asked me to come discuss some things with you, yes," he admitted.

"And what, pray tell, would they be?" Adhamh said, still smirking, making Thailog's blood enflame.

"She is wondering why she should keep any of you alive when you're out risking our lives with your foolish abductions, rapes and killings night after night!" Thailog snarled.

Adhamh's eyes then flamed white. "Watch yer tongue… "

"Watch your own!" Thailog roared at him. "I know you maybe new to this world, and not used to hiding and keeping yourselves from attacking every man, woman and child that crosses your path… and frankly, I don't give a damn!"

The alternate Goliath then got up, eyeing him dangerously, but Thailog was too incensed to care. The weeks of being forced to serve and kiss the backside of that obnoxious brat Cecile had driven him to the point of despair and insanity.

"Your constant kidnapping and violations of numerous Human women are putting us all in danger!" Thailog said warningly. "Most of the population are already suspecting that we Gargoyles might be in some way responsible. We were fortunate that your counterparts got hold of the women you recently apprehended. I doubt Xanatos will let them go, at least not without first ensuring their silence."

Goliath snorted in disgust. "Why should we care about what Humans think or feel? Because of them our race is all but… "

"I do not care for your pathetic excuses, barbarian!" Thailog shouted. "If the Humans suspect that we are to blame for the rapes and deaths of any of their people, they will launch a witch-hunting campaign on the whole city! None of us will be safe, neither Goliath's clan, yours or myself!"

Adhamh, Goliath and the counter Broadway were all staring at him dangerously, but still Thailog had no care for that.

Adhamh seemed to take his time in answering, but when he did he spoke with understanding. "What you say makes sense." He was just as much a savage as the rest of his clan, but he at least had a brain.

"Good!" Thailog replied. "That is why Cecile has decided to place me in charge of you until your work for her is done."

Adhamh's eyes flared back up, but Goliath was the first to speak that time.

"You dare attempt to take my leadership from me?" he snarled ferociously.

"I'm not attempting to take your leadership, I AM taking it! You and your clan have already caused too much trouble for all of us, including yourselves! It's clear you're not equipped to handle things in our world, and until you learn better I will be taking charge and seeing to everything! You have a problem with that, go take it out with _Cecile_!"

The last part was meant as something of a challenge to the dark twin of Goliath, one that Thailog knew he would not accept. He was a brute, a savage and a barbarian, but he was not completely stupid. He had already seen the level of magic that Cecile possessed, and knew that going up against her would be nothing less than pure suicide.

"Your… request is accepted," he said finally, though he did so through clenched fangs.

"It wasn't a request," Thailog corrected him. "It was merely a fact."

Goliath said nothing, and stepped back, as did the counter Broadway. Adhamh stood where he was for a few moments, eyeing Thailog curiously.

"What is it?" the clone snapped.

"You know, when I first met you," Adhamh stated. "I figured ye to be nothing more than a male wench, something kept around only for the amusement of that Human sorceress. But now… now I see I was wrong. You have a great temper within you. Perchance you are not the weakling I had thought you to be."

With that, he then walked away, back to his seat, leaving Thailog staring at him in bewilderment.

0000000000

**Eyrie Building:**

Xanatos sat up in his bed, with his leg in a cast, as Owen entered the room.

"What news of the women Goliath and his lot brought back?" the CEO asked.

"I'm afraid it is not good, Mr. Xanatos," the major-domo turned Fey reported. "One of the women is in a near catatonic state, two of them have yet to stop crying, and the other two are more or less demanding retribution."

"Not surprising," Xanatos remarked. When he had first heard what those savage doppelgangers of the clan had done to those women, his first thought was that he would let each of the women have the pleasure in castrating all of them.

"Yes, but it is not just their attackers they want punished, Mr. Xanatos," Owen explained. "They desire to have all of the Gargoyle race eradicated, as payment for their violations."

Xanatos sighed. "I feared as much." It was possible it was just their anger talking. They might calm down in time, but Xanatos knew he could not keep them here for long, and there was no guarantee that time would soothe their wounds.

He also knew though that he could not let them leave, at least not feeling the way they did now. This kind of bad publicity was the absolutely last thing the clan needed. If the city so much as suspected the clan of doing what their alternates had done, New York would become one big Gargoyle-hunting ground.

"Can you remove all their memories of the incident from their minds?" he asked.

Owen sighed. "Yes and no, sir."

"What do you mean?"

"I can remove all their memories of the incidents with the Gargoyles, that is true," Owen explained. "But the extraction of mere memories cannot fully take away the trauma of what they've been through."

Xanatos looked questioningly at him.

"The women suffered an almighty trauma, an intense violation upon their bodies. I can take away the memory of the rape, but its ramifications will still continue to affect them. You see, a person's body can sometimes remember things that a person's mind cannot. Like most rape victims, it is more than likely they will continue to feel and suffer the after-affects of their ordeal."

"You mean like intense fear of men, or to be touched in general?" Xanatos said, remembering reading somewhere about rape victims and their attempts to recover.

"Exactly," Owen nodded. "Most women try to forget about it when it first happens, to try and carry on with their lives as though nothing happened. Very rarely does it ever succeed, and most usually go mad with the denial."

"And you think something similar would happen with these women if you erased their memories?"

"It is inevitable, I'm afraid. Even if they don't remember that they were raped, their bodies will know that something bad had happened to them. They could have flashbacks, moments of crushing panic, intense fear of being with someone and so forth."

Xanatos sighed. "I don't want to be party to driving someone to the nuthouse, but I can't see what other option we have. If we let them go free and tell the world that Gargoyles were the ones who assaulted them, the clan will have no peace."

"There is one other option, sir," Owen suddenly said. "Instead of erasing their memories, we could try merely _altering_ them."

"Altering?"

0000000000

Goliath stood with Aster and the others, discussing the layout for Aster's plan. So far, all they had managed to agree on was to disagree.

"But you said so yourself that you weren't sure you could contain the power," Goliath told the young Aster.

"But we won't know for sure unless we try!" Aster countered hotly.

"Goliath?" Owen's crisp voice called.

The clan all looked to see the major-domo standing by one of the doors. "Mr. Xanatos wishes to see you at once."

Goliath nodded, glad for the escape from his heated discussion with Aster. The boy's foolishness and brash behaviour was grinding his nerves.

"Wait here while I see Xanatos," Goliath told his clan, leaving the Hall.

"_I'm not risking Angela's life for anyone or anything!"_ Broadway bellowed.

"_If we don't try then she'll be dead anyway!"_ Aster snapped.

Goliath sighed.

"Shall I assume that you have yet to come to an agreement?" Owen deduced.

Goliath nodded. "It seems all we can agree on is to disagree. Unless we come to a decision over what to do with the Entity, I don't see how we can hope to win."

"Well, I'm sorry to be the bearer of more bad news, but I'm afraid there is one more decision that you have to make, hence the reason why Mr. Xanatos wishes to see you."

"What decision?"

"I think it would be best for Mr. Xanatos to explain it all," Owen replied politely.

Goliath wanted to ask further, but the night's events so far had left him without the strength, and so, he decided to let it be and just see what Xanatos had to say.

A few minutes later, he was in Xanatos's bedroom, the CEO lying in bed with his leg bandaged and encased.

"Hope Owen didn't pull you out of anything important?" the clan's former enemy asked.

'More like saved me,' Goliath thought, but he merely said, "No. What was it you wanted to discuss with me?"

Xanatos quickly explained all that Owen had just gone through with him, concerning the women who their dark selves had captured and assaulted. The subject sickened the clan-leader to even think about it, but he knew it was something he would have to think about sooner or later.

"Alter?" Goliath asked when Xanatos explained what Owen had said about erasing the women's memories, but would be unable to erase the trauma inflicted on their bodies during the assault. "What do you mean?"

"As I told Mr. Xanatos," Owen revealed. "I can take away the ladies' memories of their actual rape, but the body can sometimes remember what the mind cannot. They could have flashbacks and such, so I would not recommend it as an option. It could lead to severe mental damage, perhaps even to insanity. The only other option to save your clan's reputation, and to prevent a city-wide Gargoyles hunt, would be to alter their memories slightly."

"You mean enter their minds and change their memories?" Goliath exclaimed aghast. "Have not these people been violated enough without you having to rape their minds also?"

"Believe me, Goliath," Xanatos said sympathetically. "I was not all for this when Owen first suggested it, but in all honesty I see no other way… We can't keep them here forever, most of them want blood for what was done to them, particularly your kind's blood, and there's no way we can explain to them that the ones who assaulted them were not really you, but your clan from another reality. And frankly I don't think they would care either way."

Goliath stayed silent, his fists clenched and his eyes downcast, his thoughts in conflict.

"Owen suggests that we allow him to enter each of the ladies' minds, as you just said, and slightly alter their memories of what happened in that place where you rescued them from."

"How so?"

"Little things, really. First of all, he would alter their perception and make them believe that the males who were raping them were not Gargoyles at all, but mere men. He can arrange it so that they could not see who their attackers were, but enough to believe that they were not Gargoyles."

"Until we came and rescued them?" Goliath asked.

"No, we feel it would play better if they forgot that any of your kind were there at all."

"Memory alterations are very tricky," Owen added. "If they remember that any of your kind were there, the sight or discussion of you could lead to their memories being restored."

"How would you explain them being here then?" Goliath then asked.

"Owen will also erase their memories of ever being brought here," Xanatos continued. "I will have my men take them down to an abandoned warehouse or some place, and leave an anonymous tip to the police of where to find them."

Goliath did not like the idea of fooling around with another person's mind, but what Xanatos said made sense, and it seemed the only possible escape for them right now.

"I will talk to Elisa and explain the situation," he said. "I will tell her to expect such a call."

Xanatos nodded.

"But how will Owen or Puck be able to complete the mind spell?" the Manhattan Gargoyle suddenly realised. "Oberon's law forbids him from using magic except in the training of young Alexander, and surely he's too young to attempt such a spell?"

"You assume correctly, Goliath," Owen revealed. "But I am also allowed to use my magic in the _protection_ of young Alexander as well. If the city were to explode into an all out Gargoyles hunt, they would tear this city apart looking for you, attacking anything and anyone that got in their way. And, needless to say, if they were to discover that you were living here, Master Alexander's safety would be severely jeopardised."

"So Puck would be allowed to use his magic in just securing the protection of Alex," Xanatos noted.

"Precisely."

Goliath sighed. "I do not like this idea, Xanatos, but I can see the logic in it. We have very few options left to us, and with all the current dangers in the world, we cannot risk more troubles arising just yet."

"So do we have your consent?" Xanatos asked.

Goliath sighed again, and nodded.

0000000000

Veronica Simpson sat up in the medical bed that had been prepared for her, her nerves shocked and her mind in a haze.

She was not crying. She couldn't cry, for she had no more tears to shed.

Before those Gargoyles had abducted her, she had never really paid much attention to all the news and gossip circulating Manhattan about the living drainpipes. After all, she had her own problems to deal with every day, so she had no time to spend thinking about statues coming to life. The whole thing had just seemed ridiculous to her.

But then they had come… come and taken her.

Veronica's whole body shuddered, as she remember how they had carried her upside down, humiliating her as they pointed and laughed at her choice of underwear, and sniffed and licked at her crotch.

But that had been nothing compared to what they had done when they had brought her to their home.

Veronica wanted to be sick, her body still convulsing, as the memories of what happened when they had brought her to that old building and dropped her, starting with that huge aquamarine Gargoyle with the tattered skin and huge ears that looked as if they had been put through a shredder.

He had been the one who had _taken_ her.

Veronica still couldn't bring herself to say the word "rape", as it still didn't seem real to her. She knew she was delaying the inevitable, but she just couldn't bring herself to face it. Even now she was trying to convince herself that it had all been nothing more than a horrible nightmare, one brought on by too much cheese before bed or something.

"God please," she whimpered. "Why is this happening to me?"

She remembered how the large one had grabbed her, throwing her to the floor before proceeding to… _sit_ on her.

His weight had been enormous as his height, almost crushing her to the point of suffocation. But the worst part had been what he had done after he had sat on her.

She had been stuck underneath his huge posterior, struggling in vain to escape, but only managing to elite a few sniggers from him, and then she had felt the tail… It had felt like a long snake, slithering around between her legs before it had plunged right into her.

She had screamed, and the first wave of tears had begun streaming down her face, but the beast paid no attention to her, except for what its tail was doing. She didn't know what else he had been doing, her being in the position she had been in and not being able to see, but she knew he had been doing something. She had seen the other women in the room before the beast had converged on her, and the constant growls and laughter he had been sounding had been enough of a giveaway to what he was doing.

Veronica felt her stomach beginning to heave again when the door to her room opened again.

"Miss Simpson," the voice of the blonde man with the glasses said. "I'm sorry for leaving you for so long, but I wish to speak to you on an important matter."

Veronica could only numbly nod her head in acknowledgement.

Owen walked up to her, kneeling in front with his blue eyes looking into hers. "I am sorry for this," he then said.

Veronica resisted the urge to snort in disgust. Ever since she had come here she had had countless people telling her they were sorry for what had happened to her. Sure, they're sorry, she's sorry, everybody's sorry! But what good does that do her now?

She remembered the Gargoyles that had attacked her then violated her, and then as a final indignity they had brought her here under the pretence of saving her.

"I know you've been through a terrible trauma," the man's voice continued. "I wish I could take away your pain, but for now all I can do is this… "

Veronica turned her sight back to him, wondering what he was talking about, and then…

The man's form seemed to melt in front of her, as his appearance shrunk and his hair grew long and turned white, but before she could even take the time to think of this…

"_Bliss of sleep take thee, let thy mind now open to me." _

Veronica had no time to wonder about his choice of words or the way his voice seemed to change in tone, when she felt her eyes begin to grow heavy and her conscious slip into oblivion.

Puck wasted no time and began to dive deep into the woman's sub-consciousness, but at the same time he tried to respect her privacy as much as he was able to by not viewing any intimate or personal memories. He soon found what he was looking for and began the editing…

In the place of her Gargoyle attackers, he placed the shadows of mere men, cloaked and unrecognisable. The appearance of the actual clan, he removed completely.

'I cannot take away the pain of your trauma,' Puck said mentally. 'But at least I can help save the clan's reputation, and make you forget you were raped by actual beasts.'

It was small comfort, but at least it was some to the trickster.

0000000000

**45 Minutes Later; Downtown:**

Elisa had received a call from Goliath, informing her of the women who had been abducted and raped by their counterparts, and was on her way to the rendezvous point where she would find the missing women.

Elisa shuddered, remembering how the counter Goliath had came onto her, no doubt intending to do the same to her as his clan had to those poor women. She was just thankful that her Goliath had arrived to help her.

Like Goliath, she had not been too fond of the idea of Puck/Owen invading those women's minds, but like him, she could see no alternative. The last thing the clan needed was for the whole city to go mad for Gargoyle blood.

'I wonder how many Fey have just strolled into another person's mind happily,' she thought, 'and violated whatever memory they had, all for the sole purpose of amusing themselves?'

Elisa had no great love for the Fey, not even Puck really despite the number of times he had helped the clan recently. They had no respect for others, especially those of her kind, and just did whatever they wanted to do and to hell with the consequences.

And the fact that they could just enter a person's mind at will and fool around with it, making them do whatever they wanted, scared the heck out of her.

"This the place?" Matt's voice broke her out of her thoughts.

Elisa checked the address that Goliath had given her, and nodded.

"Better get on with it then," Matt said, sighing as he got out of the car.

Elisa swallowed the lump forming in her throat, and followed him out.

The site was an old abandoned building with easy access. They soon found a way in and entered.

"Hello?" Matt called out. "Anyone here?"

A few moments passed, and then…

"Help… " a tiny voice cried out pitifully.

Matt spared Elisa a glance, and then hurried over to where the voice had come from, behind a pile of old boxes.

The voice turned out to belong to a young woman, scarcely clothed. No doubt the clan, Xanatos's men or whoever had brought them there, must have thought it would seem more realistic that way, which Elisa had to admit sounded logical, as real rapists would not have bothered taking any time to redress their victims.

Elisa quickly approached the young lady. "What's your name?" she asked urgently.

The woman stuttered for a moment. "Ve… Vero…. Veronica Simpson," she said finally.

Elisa didn't want to ask the next question, as she already knew the answer and she felt it unjustly fair to ask, but she knew she had to, to keep up the pretence… "What happened?"

Veronica's lower lip quivered slightly. "There was a man…" she said, seemingly gasping for breath. "A bunch of men… The-they-they… they ambushed me, took me away somewhere, and then…" She burst out crying.

Elisa embraced the woman, to comfort her. "It's all right," she said, trying to reassure her. "You're safe now."

The rest of the women started to wake up, most of them screamed when they first saw Matt, as they obviously must have mistaken him for one of their rapists.

Elisa knew it had been a bad idea to bring Matt with her, as most rape victims were always deadly afraid at seeing another man right after their attack, but she couldn't ask another officer to join her, as she had no reason to, not without revealing the fact that she knew something the others didn't.

Elisa continued holding Miss Simpson near, as she sobbed into her arms while the others either still screamed or started crying around them.

The detective prayed at that moment that when the clan eventually tracked down those sons of bitches, they would make them pay for this violation with their lives. For if they didn't then _she_ would.

0000000000

On the other side of New York, the Entity stood on one of the many rooftops of Manhattan, overlooking the vast concrete isle before him.

"So many souls and not a drop to eat," it mused. It cursed the fact that it could only drain the souls of those who were dead, and not the living. It would sure make food a lot easier to find if it could.

It had attempted to find some lost souls, but so far could find none. Usually, it would have gone to another alternate universe where it would have already experienced this reality's timeline, and thus change it. But alas, this reality was apparently unique, the first original reality it had met in so long a time.

It recognised the inhabitants of this world and universe. The Gargoyle clan, its leader and members were all familiar to it, having seen so many other alternatives of them already in various worlds. But the timeline of this world was unlike any it had seen in its vast life.

The Entity lived outside of time and space, so it could be changing the history of this world already by just being there. However, it had obviously not done anything too remarkable to change the timeline otherwise this world and all its reality would have long since dissipated by now.

The only reason why the Entity had not left to go find a more familiar world, one with plenty of lost souls for it to claim and consume, was because it had decided that that young Gargoyle Aster had to be dealt with. It had not been bothered with Aster at first, and truth be told it had even found it amusing to watch as the young Gargoyle had tried fruitlessly to vanquish it.

But that had been then, and Aster had been trailing after the Entity for many years, during which he had acquired some measure of power. It was nowhere near enough to destroy or even harm it, but it could be enough to cause it some distress at least.

The Entity had not spent all those countless centuries of travelling across trans-dimensions to be taken down by a simple mortal Gargoyle now. To be stopped so would be… humiliating.

Unfortunately, killing him might be complicated. The Entity had vast powers to be sure, but only in crossing dimensions, binding and consuming lost souls, and of course attacking its enemies, but killing was another matter.

The Entity had never had a travelling companion, which was what Aster was, to lack a better description, so it did not know the consequences of its actions in destroying him. For all it knew, killing Aster might cause this entire reality to immediately be sucked into oblivion at once, along with the Entity.

The Entity had always ensured that whenever a reality was about to implode on itself, it left with plenty of time so it did not get caught in the devastation. Not even _it_ could survive the destruction of an entire dimension.

So it would not destroy Aster, but it would ensure that the young Gargoyle would never bother it again. The Entity couldn't just leave, as it knew Aster had a way of somehow tracking it, thanks to that bothersome trinket he had picked up in one of his first jumps. But perhaps he could find a way of somehow subduing him.

The Entity had been around long enough to learn of several ways to incarcerate people, such as Cryo-Stasis, turned to stone and other such ways. It would simply just do one of those things to Aster, thereby not killing him, but ensuring his nights of troubling it would be over.

The Entity smiled, laughing as it imagined painful but deathless ways of subduing the troublemaker.

0000000000

"So the women have now been taken care of?" Brooklyn asked his leader.

Goliath nodded. "Puck erased all memories they had of ever being with any of us. They still remember being raped, but as far as they know it was by mere human men."

Angela looked disturbed, as she looked at her father. "Could he not have removed all memory of their rapes also?"

Goliath shook his head. "I asked him about that, Angela, but sadly no. He said all that would do would remove the memory, but the trauma of what was done to them would remain. They would know something bad had happened to them, but they wouldn't remember what. At least this way they will be able to get help from human sources to aid in their recovery."

Angela slowly nodded, but still looked unsure.

"In that case, we can now put our attention to other bigger matters," Aster added. "Have you heard yet from Darlene?"

Goliath spared him a short but hostile look before replying. "Darlene said she first had some personal issues to deal with concerning Demona. She will get back to us as soon as she could."

Aster scoffed. "Nice to see she's keeping track of important matters."

Goliath stared hard at him. "Nothing is more important than family, even if that family involves Demona."

Aster stared back at him, but gave no reply to what he just said, and just carried on with what he was originally going to say…

"I've been thinking about the plan and where we should execute it," he told them. "Since we don't know the magnitude of the explosion, assuming there even is one, might occur when we complete the spell, I believe we should stage the trap at a remote location, one where there will surely be no people about."

"Agreed," Goliath said. "Where did you have in mind?"

"I thought Liberty Island," Aster quickly replied.

Goliath blinked, as did the rest of the clan.

"Liberty… _Island_?" Brooklyn said slowly. "Are you out of your mind freaking nuts? That's where… "

"I know where it is and what it holds, Brooklyn," Aster said lowly. "My universe was not completely different from yours, at least not when concerning its historical attractions, especially the Statue of Liberty."

"If this spell goes wrong, we could end up… "

"We could end up destroying the whole island and the statue with it," Aster finished for him. "I know all that, Brooklyn, and furthermore I couldn't really give a damn! For one thing, we do not know for absolute certainty that the spell will blow up, as there is a chance it won't, however small. And even if it does… what's more important, the risk of losing a statue or the risk of your entire universe getting destroyed? I feel fairly certain that given the choice, most people would prefer to live."

Goliath had to accept his logic on that, as did the rest of the clan.

"The humans are NOT gonna be happy if we end up losing one of their most famous landmarks," Lex said, groaning.

"Do you think they'll be happier if they end up losing everything else?" Aster asked snidely, earning a short glare from the green Gargoyle. "If not then stop whining. Liberty Island is isolated and far away from any populace, so if the spell does blow up then hopefully the devastation and risk of lives will be low."

Goliath nodded. "The safety of others does take precedence over mere landmarks, Lexington."

"Somehow, I doubt the Historical society is gonna see it that way," Lex said nervously.

"Anyway," Aster continued. "We'll set up the trap there. Demona, Darlene and myself will cast the spell. With a bit of luck, once the spell takes hold and the rift in space and time is opened, the Entity will come and we can take him down."

"I still believe we should look for another plan… " Goliath started, but Aster was quick to interrupt.

"We do not have time for another plan, Goliath!" Aster shouted. "Every second that the Entity remains here in your world, the more chance it has of destroying it! We need to strike him down now and be done with it, otherwise the next minute could be your last!"

"Well, like it or not, your plan will have to wait for another night, Aster!" Goliath shouted back. "There's not enough night left for us to carry out your plan, and we first need to give time for Demona and Darlene to prepare for the spell."

Aster hissed, as he paced back and forth. Since he had gotten the clan to agree with him in taking down the Entity, his obsession with completing his plan seemed to be slowly consuming him, something that hadn't gone unnoticed by anyone.

"Fine!" Aster finally relented. "We'll do it tomorrow."

"Tomorrow…?" Goliath, but Aster interrupted him.

"Yes, tomorrow! The spell is not that complicated so it won't take long to learn, and everything is simple enough to set up, and the sooner we set it, the sooner your world and every other world will be safe, okay?"

Goliath frowned for a moment, but nodded in agreement.

"Great," Aster said. "Now, about Darlene and Demona… I'll call them and let them know what they have to do to prepare for the spell. You have Owen arrange to bring any and all of the weapons he can afford to spare… "

"Weapons?" Broadway asked in confusion.

"We can't afford to take any chances. When the Entity eventually figures out what we're doing, or what we're trying to do, he'll hit us with everything he's got."

"We have never had to resort to such violent acts before," Lexington retorted. He knew their coming fight with the Entity was bound to be a bloody one, and although the thought of using any of Xanatos' high-tech was appealing to him; the idea of using such underhanded and violent acts was disconcerting to him.

"Desperate times call for desperate measures," Aster told him simply. "We won't get any second chances with this plan, so it's important to get it right the first time."

Goliath nodded. "Aster is right. In fact, when you call Darlene, have her and Demona look up any other spells that might aid us."

"Good idea," the young traveller said agreeably, and had already moved over to the telephone.

Brooklyn stared for a moment unbelieving at his leader. "You certainly changed your tune quickly," he said.

"Believe me, I am as happy about this as anyone," Goliath whispered to him. "But sadly, what Aster says makes sense. We won't get any second chances with this."

Brooklyn sighed, but nodded. "So what do we do now?"

"What Aster said, gather as many resources as we can and prepare for battle!"

0000000000

**Destine Manor:**

Darlene listened intently, as Aster revealed to her their plan.

"I understand," she replied. "I'll have mother bring out all her books to research on any spells that might help us. I should have something for you by tomorrow night."

With that, she hung up and looked over to where Griff was still chatting with Jarred, and bouncing Gem on his knee.

"More trouble?" he asked her.

"Nothing as of yet," she mused. "But I doubt it's far behind. Aster wants me and mother to find out any other spells that might help us defeat this Entity of his. Seems he's not taking any chances. As well as having spells from us, he's asked Xanatos to provide with al the latest weapons he's got."

Griff cocked an eyeridge. "Sounds as if he's preparing for World War III."

She nodded. "The thought had occurred to me."

"Are you going to ask for your mother's help now?"

She shook her head. "I'll give her a few minutes more. When she's in this type of mood, it's never a good idea to disturb her." She then grinned. "I maybe brave, but I'm not suicidal." Eliciting a chuckle from all of them gathered.

From the other side of the building though, a keen ear that had been listening intently to Darlene's conversation with Aster gently placed the telephone she had been holding back into its cradle.

Demona sat still for a moment, chewing her lower lip thoughtfully, before she picked up the phone again and began dialling.

A few moments later, another phone started ringing across town, someone picked up and answered. "_Hello_?"

"The time has come," Demona replied. "I need you to relay the information to your employers."

A short time passed before the voice on the other end answered. "_You do realise the risk I'm taking here?_"

"As you said last time," Demona snidely responded. "But rest assured, you will be more than well reimbursed for all your trouble. That and more."

A sigh came from the other end. "_Fine. What would you have me do?_"

0000000000

**Bedford Hotel: **

Cecile stirred the water in her cauldron, calling upon the image of the clan, but was finding it difficult. No doubt the magic of that confounded Fey was trying to mask their presence, and prevent the Venes from seeing them.

It was nothing she couldn't deal with though. From all the magic that her family had gathered over the aeons, there was no spell she could handle. It would just take a little time in trying to figure out what spell to use. Fey were notoriously tricky, and because they themselves were composed of pure magic, their spells proved a challenge to counteract. Not impossible, but hard nonetheless.

The balcony doors of their room-windows opened, indicating the return of her favourite muscle-bound Gargoyle.

Thailog walked over into her room, bowing respectfully before her.

"Your report?" she simply asked, not even bothering to look up at him.

"The alternate clan have seemingly agreed to my… _proposition_," he told her. "For the moment they are taking my orders and have agreed not to attack anymore humans."

Cecile shrugged. "Good. At least we don't have to worry about that no more."

"What about your… " Thailog paused, wondering what to all the little girl that the alternative had abducted, the one with a demon in her.

"Sarah is confined to her room for the moment," Cecile told him. "Her visions will prove invaluable to future dealings with the clan, but at the moment I'm just a little bit concerned about that creature that came with that new Gargoyle."

"You fear its power?"

Cecile looked up dangerously at him. "No Vene worth their blood fears any kind of power," she hissed. "However, I did sense a lot of energy within him. Normally, those of my kin would do all they could to usurp and absorb his power into ours, but his aura is different from any we have encountered before. It's like he exists and yet does not exist at the same time."

Thailog was about to ask something else, but before he could, the phone rang.

Cecile answered it. "Hello? Yes, pass it through."

She waited a moment, and then raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Lightning," she mused. "Well, well, to what do I owe this pleasure? I have no job for you."

A few minutes passed, as Cecile listened intently to the voice of her family's own personal thief.

"Really?" she said, seemingly fascinated by what Lightning aka Brent Maza was telling her. "Well, this is certainly a great help to us, but tell me… What does she get out of this?"

A few seconds later, she chuckled loudly. "Should have known," she mused. "Very well, tell her we agree to her demands. And let it not be said that we Venes are ever ungrateful for your help, Lightning. $10,000 enough? Don't go giving me that, I'm only willing to pay so much for just a bit of info. Take it or leave it!"

She smiled, as Lightning seemingly agreed to her offer. "Thought you'd see it my way. Thanks for your help." She hung up.

Thailog looked at her with a cocked eyeridge. "Some news?"

Cecile just smiled at him. "Seems we've caught ourselves a break concerning the clan and that Entity fellow."

"How so?"

"I'll explain later, but for now call your troops," Cecile stood tall, her grin never-ending. "Tomorrow we're going to be busy."

0000000000

**Next Day; The Labyrinth: **

Elisa waited at the entrance to the Labyrinth. She had arrived a few minutes earlier, meeting one of the clones who had even now gone to find her brother.

The detective sighed. Unknown to the clan, she had been spending a lot of time researching at the precinct, and had even gotten Xanatos to help out with his underworld connections. She didn't like to keep secrets from Goliath or the others, but this was a personal thing she had to do.

A few moments later, Talon aka Derek Maza arrived at the doors to the Labyrinth.

Every time when Elisa saw him and the eye-patch that now covered his eye from where those demon-snakes had ripped it out, she still shuddered.

"Hey, sis," he greeted her.

Elisa however did not greet him with her usual cheerfulness, which indicated to him instantly that something was wrong.

"What's up?" he asked.

"I found him," she simply replied.

Talon kept silent for a moment, and then added, "Did you bring the van?"

"It's ready and waiting up top."

0000000000

**Half Hour Later; Penthouse Apartment: **

Sash was sitting in the lounge idly touching up her nails, while Brent aka Lightning the thief was in the other room with his daughter.

A few moments later, the doorbell rang.

Sash looked up, as Brent walked in looking suspicious and on edge. "Expecting someone?" she asked.

"No, and that's the problem," Brent replied. Being a thief meant you had to have your eyes constantly open unless you wanted to get caught by the police, or worse by rival gangs and cat-burglars. There was always the odd rival who would attempt to get the drop on you, especially if you were the current top thief in the business. Brent had already had several other burglars break into his home to either steal something he had already stolen, or to make way for them to be the next top cat burglar.

Brent indicated Sash to go into the room where his daughter, Hannah, was, before heading over to the front door. He reached it, pausing to look through the peephole.

'Elisa!' he thought, recognising his sister instantly. 'Damn it!'

He immediately turned around, preparing to head back to his daughter's room, only to be stopped by the second surprise of that day…

The glass-door of the balcony shattered open, and a large cat-like creature on two legs and with giant bat-wings came striding in.

"Sorry about the mess, little bro," the creature said. Just the sight of it would be enough to shock anyone into oblivion, if Brent was not already used to seeing such beasts around Manhattan, but the voice was enough to do so. It had matured a lot on years, but Brent recognised any voice of his kin.

"Derek?" Brent said in amazement.

Just then, the front door banged open, as Elisa kicked it in. She came in with her gun drawn, but soon stopped when she saw both of her younger brothers still in the room.

"We have some unfinished business you and I, Brent," she greeted her youngest sibling.

A low cry came from one of the other rooms, and just when Elisa and Derek/Talon looked over to see, the door also burst open, revealing a Goth-girl armed with a pistol aimed right at them.

"Drop it and kiss the floor!" she shouted, her finger on the trigger.

Elisa cocked her eyebrow at her. "Been watching one too many cop shows I take it?"

Sash glared at the woman in the red jacket and pulled the safety trigger off the pistol.

"Hold it, Sash!" Brent cried out, signalling her to stand down. "Let's hear what my siblings here have to say?"

"Siblings?" Sash asked, her eyes widening.

Brent shrugged. "Yeah, Sash meet Derek, my brother." He pointed over to the large cat-like thing with the eye-patch.

Sash blinked. "Dude, you seriously have got one twisted family, you know that."

"Apparently more so than even I believed," Brent replied, and signalled her to go back into the room. Once she had gone, he turned back to his brother and sister. "So… to what do I owe the pleasure of this little meeting?"

Elisa then walked straight up to her youngest brother, grabbing him by the shirt and forcing him into a chair. "An explanation for starters!" she demanded.

"An explanation for what?" Brent asked, unmoved by his sister's manhandling.

Elisa glared at him. "About why you have forsaken everything our parents always taught us to believe in!" she explained. "A thief, Brent… How could you descend into that?"

Brent glared back at her. "Don't talk about things you know nothing about, Lise!" he said, using the nickname he had called her as children. "I noticed you're not doing too badly. Smart clothes, a comfortable apartment, handsome salary… When was the last time you ever had to beg on the streets for food?"

"You could have had it all, too, if you had just gone home!" she retorted.

"Fat chance of that!" he swore. "After what dad did, I wouldn't go home for all the tea in China!"

Talon sighed. "Brent," he started. "We are sorry for what happened, but… Dad had no control over what happened to Sally. It was just the way things were back then. If he had known, he would have figured something else out."

"Spare me!" his brother spat. "You all told me to put trust in the law, so I did. What's more, I put all my trust in dad, and what did he do? He allowed them to take her back to her folks, and into her grave!"

Talon and Elisa both exhaled. The memory of that day was painful to all in their family. Neither of them had expected the law to ever actually give Sally back to her parents, considering the charges brought up against them, but they had been smart and well connected, and Elisa's father suspected they had bribed some of the jury or even the judge himself.

"There was nothing more we could do," Elisa said, almost pleading. "We couldn't keep Sally from her folks after the verdict was given. Keeping her would have been a crime. We tried… "

"Don't go giving me anymore of your excuses, Lise!" Brent seethed. "Sally trusted me to help her, I trusted you all to help me help her, and you end up delivering her right back into their hands!"

Elisa closed her eyes for a whole minute then opened them. "I know, Brent," she added. "And believe me, there isn't a second that goes by when none of us, me, Derek here, dad, mom and even Beth don't regret it with every fibre of our being. But what's done is done! Sally's dead! She can never come back nor is there anything more we can do to help her. But at least take some comfort in the fact that what happened to her helped wake up some of the idiots in the justice system. The police take extra special care now whenever dealing with an abused child, and never send them anywhere where they feel she might not be safe."

Brent just stared at her. "A pity they didn't realise it sooner," he just said.

Elisa sighed and looked at Talon.

"But none of this explains why you fell into a life of crime, Brent," Talon added. "You, like the rest of us, always knew that crime didn't pay. How many hours did we have to deal with dad teaching us _that_ lessons?"

Brent scoffed. "From my experience, crime pays rather well actually."

"But why?" Elisa nearly pleaded. "Couldn't you have got some other work, and what the hell did you do to yourself? How could you allow yourself to become a guinea pig in a lab experiment?"

Brent stiffened, as though uncomfortable. "That's my business."

"And what about the kid… Your daughter Hannah?"

Brent looked up at her. "She's none of your business either!" he hotly replied.

"She's our niece," Talon stated calmly, coming nearer his brother. "That makes it our business. Please, let us help!"

"I have everything under control!"

"You call being a criminal under control?" Elisa insisted.

Brent didn't look at her. "You do what you have to do to survive."

"And what about her mother, who was she?"

Brent kept silent, but Elisa's persistence wouldn't allow him any rest.

"Well?" she demanded.

Brent sighed. "Her name was Hannah," he admitted. "We met while we were living on the streets together. She'd run away from a foster home. Sash, who you met just now, came… Well, I don't know where she came from. She never talks about her past, and I never ask, but anyway… Hannah and I met, eventually we sorta dated, and then she told me I was gonna be a dad." Brent looked at them with a humourless smile on his face. "Nearly made me wanna do a runner then, I can tell you."

"Seems to be what you're good at," Elisa replied, but a nudge from Talon silenced her.

Brent ignored them and continued with his story. "Times were tough, we had barely any food and rarely a roof over our heads. I did whatever work I could find, and before you ask, no it wasn't anything illegal that time. It was what you would call 'honest work'. It was only after that I went off the rails… "

"After what?"

Brent paused for a moment. "After Hannah died… The birth was difficult. She didn't make it."

Elisa was silent for a few minutes, until finally she said… "I'm sorry."

Brent just shrugged. "It wasn't as though we were really in love, you know," he explained. "We were never actually lovers. We were just two kids living on the streets. We would take comfort wherever we could find it. Unfortunately, comfort like all things sometimes comes with a price. In our case, it was little Hannah."

"So you turned to a life of crime to help support your daughter, when you could have just come home and asked for help."

Brent gave her another glare. "I told you once, and I'll tell you a thousand times… _Nothing_ will ever make me go back home!"

"Not even your own daughter?"

Brent stiffened again, but said nothing to that. He only carried on with his story. "I started looking for any kind of work I could find, including the not so legal jobs. Eventually, I heard about some doc who was looking for volunteers and paying big money for their services. I was desperate, so I agreed."

Elisa started to get stiff herself, but kept herself composed.

"He did some stuff, injected me with some chemicals. Next thing I know, I'm making sparklers with my hands. Came in quite handy in a few robberies, I can tell you."

"And the Venes?" she asked. "How did they come into all this?"

Brent looked uncomfortable. "Shortly after I first got these… _powers_, I started feeling queasy. I managed to go to another doctor at some refuge, but he could do nothing for me. He couldn't understand what was happening to me, and said I would need to see a specialist at a hospital for me to find out, but obviously I couldn't do that without getting caught by the cops. So I stayed hidden, and without medical treatment my condition worsened. I was almost dead by the time the Venes found me… "

"And how did they find you?" Talon asked suddenly.

"In an alley if you can believe," Brent shrugged. "They claimed they were looking for some new agents to replace some ones they had lost. They asked what I would be willing to give in exchange for life. I told them what I needed way more than life… I needed cash, and lots of it." He paused for a second, smiling. "That seemed to amuse them, so they cut me a deal. They would heal me, but not only that they would also increase my power, allowing me complete control over it. With it I could do anything, so long as I served them whenever they called, _but_… they would _pay_ for my services as well."

"So you sold your soul for money," Elisa said disappointedly.

"I'd hardly call it selling my soul, sis," Brent retorted. "But I was dying, in case you forgot, I had a daughter to support and no way of doing so. I did what I had to do, end of story."

"And where is your daughter then?" Talon asked. "Do we get to meet our little niece?"

"I would rather you not," Brent said, again uncomfortably.

"Why? Embarrassed to show us to her? Or vice versa?"

"No!" Brent shouted. "But… Well, there's one other little thing I haven't mentioned."

"What?"

Brent didn't answer, as he merely got up and walked over to the bedroom door, opening it and showing them in.

Elisa and Talon shared a look before going in.

Sash was on the floor playing with a little girl. She spared them a glance, but a look from Brent told her not to react.

"This is Hannah," Brent said, coming over to the toddler child. She had his dark hair and eyes, with tanned skin just a tone lighter than his.

"Hello?" Talon greeted warmly. He was worried that the girl might be spooked by his appearance, but then again she wasn't even three yet so who knows? So far, she hadn't made any response, nor had she even looked at them.

"Hiya?" Elisa added, but still the girl didn't look at them.

They shared a look, but Brent quickly explained. "She doesn't look at anyone."

His brother and sister looked at him.

"She's autistic," he said. "Need anymore explanation as to why I chose this particular form of career?"

Elisa and Talon froze for a moment. In truth, they did begin to understand a little better. The idea of one of their own family being a criminal was still unthinkable to them, but at least now they knew why he had turned to it. Living on the streets as a single parent was bad enough, but living on the streets as a single parent to a child that was also autistic was almost impossible.

"Surely there must have been people you could have gone to, like charities…" Elisa began, but Brent quickly cut her off.

"And they would have wanted to know all my life history, why I was on the streets in the first place and everything. I know all about those places, Lise. I had no desire to be caught anymore than I do now."

Talon stared at his niece, as the one called Sash played with her. "Why didn't you call me then?" he then asked. "You knew I would never have betrayed you by telling mom and dad. I never did before. Why didn't you trust me?"

Brent sighed. "I did trust you... when I was a kid, Derek. But… I couldn't be certain I could trust you then. Time changes a person, as it did me, so for all I knew you could have grown up into the dedicated cop that dad and Elisa were."

Derek paused then, seeing as he had been a cop. It hadn't been something he really wanted to do, but he had done so because it was what Elisa and his father had both wanted for him, and he had been eager to please them.

"Why do you still do it though?" Elisa then asked. "You clearly have more than enough to support yourself, your daughter and even your friend here. Why are you still going around stealing?"

Brent shrugged again. "Most of the people I work for are not the kind you want to say no to, especially the Venes, as I'm sure you've found out already. But also… " He grinned. "I also get a thrill out of it."

Elisa looked disgusted. "So you go around stealing other people's property because it gives you a _thrill_?"

"Hey, I only steal from those who can afford it, sis," Brent said indignantly. "The people I've stolen from, I doubt they even notice. Hell, they probably have more in their old trust-funds than what I took from them."

"Stealing is stealing, Brent! It doesn't matter who it's from or for what reason. A crime is a crime."

"If you're gonna start preaching law school again, you can show yourselves the way out."

Elisa then gave him a hard look. "No, Brent. I'm a cop, and if I had any sense in me I would haul your ass to jail right now, but… "

"But you know I'd take precautions, right?" Brent said, smiling. "I know about your involvement with those Gargoyle things. If I go down, I'll be sure to take you with me."

Elisa didn't even look at him. "Figures you would, but that's not the reason. My friends and I are all in the middle of a war, Brent, a war with the Venes. You've worked for them so you know what a threat they are to everyone. They've already killed numerous people. Hell, they let loose a dragon for Pete's sake on the whole of Manhattan!"

Brent looked up at them.

"We don't have time for this sort of thing, but… " Elisa looked crestfallen. "I just wanted to know why, why you had forsaken everything dad taught us, why you do what you do. I guess I just wanted to understand."

She then turned around. "I'm sorry about what happened to your friend Sally, and all that's happened to you since then. Most of all I'm sorry about your daughter, but… I'm a cop, Brent, sworn to uphold the law. So I give you this one and only warning… Stop what you're doing. If I catch you thieving again, no matter what the reason, then brother or not, I will catch you and take you down, okay?"

Brent didn't answer.

"Okay?" she repeated, more forcefully.

"Fine," Brent replied.

Elisa nodded, and then looked to Talon who nodded back and began making his way over to the balcony to begin his glide home, while she headed for the front door.

"Oh, Elisa!" Brent called out. "Before you go, word of advice… "

Elisa looked back to him.

"Take care and grow eyes at the back of your head. You never know who's going to sneak up on you." Brent smiled. "Most of all, you may wanna keep an extra eye out for some lady friend of yours. Apparently, she's got her own agenda."

Elisa looked at him curiously, but still she said nothing, and then continued making her way out.

"Aren't you gonna ask him who?" Talon asked her.

"Why bother?" she said. "He'd never give us a straight answer." She paused, as she and Talon were about to part company, as he would return to the Labyrinth while she went home. "Oh, Brent?"

Her brother looked up from where he was now playing with Hannah.

"Just so you know… mom and dad know about Hannah. They also know everything else. It wasn't easy explaining their son was now a criminal, but they took it fairly well… They also said that if I ever saw you again, to tell you… "

"That I'm a disgrace to the family, to never darken their doorstep again, yadda, yadda, yadda," Brent added, sounding bored.

"No," Elisa replied emotionlessly. "They said they want you to know that they forgive you for any mistakes you have made, and ask that one day you will consider forgiving them, too. They also want to extend an invitation for you to one day visit them. They would like to meet their granddaughter someday, and to see you again, too."

With that, she turned and finally made her way out, leaving Brent behind to watch as she and Talon/Derek left the apartment.

0000000000

**Eyrie Building; Sunset: **

The last rays of daylight faded away over the horizon, and the first cracks along the clan's structures appeared.

Goliath roared, as he came to life, showering the stone-floor of the castle's highest tower with his shedded skin.

"Never get tired of that," he heard Elisa's voice say behind him. Smiling, he turned around and saw her looking at him.

"My Elisa," he greeted her, holding out his arms towards her, to which she responded, accepting his warm embrace gratefully. "Are you well?"

Elisa sighed. "Depends on how you rate _fine_."

"What do you mean?"

"I went to see Brent today," she told him, not quite meeting his gaze as she did so.

Goliath's eyes went wide a little, but didn't flare up thankfully. He looked more surprised than angry. "Your brother? What happened?"

She sighed again. "I… I didn't want to say, as I knew you wouldn't want me going after anyone even remotely involved with the Venes. But this was personal, Goliath. No matter what mistakes he's made, Brent's still my brother. I had to speak with him."

"I understand that, but what happened?"

"I asked Xanatos to keep an eye out and let me know if and when he got any information about where Brent would be living. He found out earlier today from some old colleagues of his, and Derek and I got together and went to go see him. We talked about what had happened to him after he left home, how he got involved with the Vene and such. I even met his daughter, my niece…" She paused.

"Something wrong?"

"She's autistic, Goliath," she admitted. "When I found out, I found my views on Brent getting changed all over again."

"How do you mean?"

Elisa frowned, throwing up her arms in exasperation. "I don't know," she swore. "I'm a cop, Goliath, sworn to uphold the law. I've always believed that anyone who does a crime should be taken down, let justice prevail and all that. But now…" She moaned. "I just never thought one of my own family would be on the receiving end of the law. It just seems so… so _wrong_! None of us have ever been in trouble before."

"That's perfectly understandable," Goliath said honestly. "You spent your whole life hunting criminals. You just never expected one of them to be one of your own clan."

"I don't know what will happen if Brent gets arrested, Goliath," Elisa said lowly. "The kind of charges he would be facing would be enough to have him put away for at least a good decade or so. And if he got arrested, I don't know what it would do to mom and dad. They're taking the news that he's a thief bad enough as it is, but now… I'm starting to wonder if maybe I would have done the same thing as him if I had been in the same situation."

Goliath looked shocked. "I don't believe that for one minute," he said insistently.

"Don't be so sure, Goliath," she countered. "I mean, put yourself in Brent's shoes for a moment… You're young, you think your family's betrayed you, you're living on the streets, starving, you just found out you're gonna be a dad, then when the kid comes along it turns out to have special needs and your girlfriend is dead. Your options are limited, you can't go home and you're all alone. So… what would you do?"

Goliath hesitated. "I'm… not sure," he admitted finally.

"I don't think anyone would be in that kind of situation," she said, sighing. "I'm torn, Goliath. The part of me that's a cop is screaming at me to arrest him and take him in, yet the other part…"

"Still views him as your brother," Goliath finished for her. "And you cannot help but feel pity for him and his plight."

She sighed again. "What would you do, Goliath?"

The Manhattan clan leader frowned. "To be honest, I'm not so sure," he relented. "I doubt anyone would until they were in that situation. In the past, I often had to deal with those of my rookery siblings who did some crime and had to be punished, Coldsteel among them, and it was hard for me to pass judgement over them."

"But you did in the end, didn't you?" she deduced.

Goliath nodded. "As leader I could do nothing else. But… it was never easy, having to pass judgement over those who I had grown up with, even Coldsteel. And I often wonder whether I could do it again if I had to."

"So you're saying I should swallow my doubt and turn Brent in?"

"No," Goliath explained. "I am merely telling you what I did in the past, but what I did then does not necessarily mean it will work the same for you. Times are different, and human law is not always the same as Gargoyle law." He sighed, as he looked at his wife. "Only you can make this decision for yourself, my Elisa. And when in doubt, trust your instincts and follow your heart."

Elisa bit her lower lip and opened her mouth to speak again, when…

"Goliath!" Aster's voice called up. "We need to get everything ready! You coming?"

"I will be right there!" Goliath yelled back to him.

"When will we be departing?" Elisa then asked.

Goliath turned to his wife. "My Elisa," he said seriously. "Forgive me, but I must ask you not to come with us on this mission."

"What?" she said, looking at him in shock. "Why?"

"This Entity sounds as dangerous as the Venes if not more," Goliath' worried eyes stared at her. "All the clan will be there, so there is no need for you to be there also."

"Goliath, I have faced terrible dangers before," Elisa said, looking annoyed. "I face them every night as well when I'm on the clock. Why should this be any different?"

"Elisa, please!" Goliath said earnestly. "Just this once, please, stay away. I could not bear it if anything happened to you. The rest of the clan will be with me so I will not be alone, and you yourself said that you still have your brother to attend to."

Elisa's expression looked lost for a moment, but for once it seemed that fate was on Goliath's side, as she sighed and nodded.

"All right, just this once," she relented. "But if you're not home by supper-time, I'll be coming looking for you, okay?"

Goliath smiled. "Of course."

0000000000

**Liberty Island: **

The clan had all rushed with the preparation for the Entity's trap, first going to Xanatos and Owen to collect all the high-tech weapons he had promised them, and then waiting for Darlene and Demona to arrive with all their mystic items.

Demona had seemed quietly reserved, refusing to speak to anyone, even to her own daughters. Angela and Darlene had both been concerned, but at the moment they were too busy with other things. They promised each other that they would talk to their mother after the battle… assuming they were still alive that is.

"You sure this will work?" Broadway asked Aster, as he heaved some weapon of Xanatos's over to the other side of the building.

"Nothing is certain when the Entity is concerned," Aster replied simply.

Broadway snorted. "You know, you could have lied just then, just to spare us the truth?"

Aster shrugged. "Sorry."

Demona and Darlene had helped Aster in sorting through the incantations for the required spell in enhancing the magic of the Phoenix Gate. Goliath and the others had preferred to stay out of that, as none of them were trained in sorcery or had ever had any good experience with magic.

Demona sprinkled some incense over the Egyptian symbols drawn into the circle on the head of Lady Liberty. This was part of the ritual spell was needed for enhancing one's own abilities.

"Everything ready?" Aster said, mostly addressing Darlene instead of Demona, still finding it uncomfortable to be around her. It was hard to look upon one who he had once been obsessed with hunting down in his own universe, only to fail and in a way help destroy it. He had seen many alternate versions of his dark grandmother from countless realities, some good and some bad, but each one he saw had been and was a constant reminder of his biggest and greatest disgrace of a failure. It also served to remind him that his world was now gone forever.

Darlene nodded. "Everything is ready." If Demona minded him ignoring her then she didn't show it.

From beyond them, Arthur and Griff were watching the skies. The clan had decided to gather all the forces they could muster, with the exception of Xanatos who didn't want to risk leaving his family in case the clan should fail, and Lana who had stayed behind to watch over her younger siblings, with Gabriel with her.

Aster nodded back at her and then looked over to where Goliath was watching. The rest of the clan and their allies were all in their respective positions, awaiting the eventual arrival of Aster's long-time enemy.

"Everyone set?" Aster asked everyone. The unsure looks he got from the clan were, he guessed, the best he could do for confirmation. "All right then. Let's do this!"

Aster walked up to the circle drawn on the head of Lady Liberty, withdrawing a scroll of paper from his loincloth, along with his Phoenix Gate. At once, he began reciting from the words written upon it, speaking in a language that none could identify. It could have been an ancient language similar to one from their own world, but since the spell had originated from another universe, who could tell?

As Aster completed the last verse of the spell, he held out the Gate in front of him in his paw. "Deflegrate muri tempi et intervallia!"

All at once, a large ball of fire emitted from the Gate, which grew until it had consumed the Gate and then proceeded to continue growing until it was twice the size of Lady Liberty's own torch.

Suddenly, there was something of an explosion that occurred right within the ball of fire, and all the flames were seemingly sucked into some kind of portal within the ball. The flames continued to burn inside the portal, but aside from that it was all darkness.

"The rift's open!" Aster yelled over the roar of the portal and the flames. "Now all we can do is wait for the Entity to pick up the bait!"

0000000000

The Entity stood on the rooftop of one of the many towers of the concrete isle they called New York, Manhattan. He looked out to the horizon, eyeing distastefully the city before him. Out of all the dimensions he had visited previously, he had to say this one was one of the more pitifully small cities he had ever seen.

He frowned, as he continued to ponder how he was going to deal with his hitchhiker, the one called Aster, when…

The Entity stiffened, as it felt the pull of… _something_, tugging at its subconscious. It didn't know what it was, but it could feel it calling to him.

Driven by instinct and its own curiosity, the Entity listened to its senses, allowing them to lead it to the source of the summoning.

0000000000

Aster stood where he was, the laser-gun that Xanatos had supplied him with in his claw, anxiously clicking the safety on and off.

Brooklyn looked at him in concern. "You okay?" he asked.

Aster just replied with a shrug, and Brooklyn knew now was not the time to start conversations, not when the Entity could show up any minute.

"Here he comes!" Broadway shouted.

And apparently that time had now come.

"Everyone, take your positions!" Goliath ordered.

The Entity had felt the pull of the strange energy calling to it, but even it had not imagined the magnitude of what it would be, the enormous portal of darkness, surrounded by a circle of burning flames.

The portal seemed to exist outside of space and time, hence the reason why it had felt drawn to it. Such anomalies were like magnets to the Entity.

"Glad you could make it, slug-face!" the obnoxious voice of his would-be nemesis, Aster, cried out to it.

The Entity sighed and looked below him. "I take it this carnival trick is of your doing, master Aster?"

Its only answer was a shot from some laser that pierced the Entity's shoulder, singeing it. It gazed at its burnt shoulder for a moment, as the wound quickly healed and vanished.

"I'll take that as a yes," it simply added, and then roared as it dove down on him.

Aster was quick to dodge the Entity's charge, and the Entity was so focused on him that it did not notice the other clan-members near by.

Angela and the trio roared at the dimension travelling beast, each armed with some of the weapons that Xanatos had supplied them with. Most of them were high-tech lasers, and electrical guns to fire energy-nets on the beast.

The Entity swung from side to side to avoid the young ones' attacks, but the young warriors were quick to adapt. Goliath and Hudson had trained them all well.

It seethed, as Brooklyn fired the first of his energy-nets on it. The pain of the electrical field sent shivers through it, but the Entity soon hoisted the net off with a mental blast, but Brooklyn's attack was only the first of many to come.

Broadway roared, as he fired one of his own shots together with Brooklyn and the others, Aster beside him.

While all this was going on, Demona and Darlene were working quickly to recast Aster's spell to enhance the strongest containment spell that they had found in Demona's vast collection of mystical incantations. The spell they had found was supposed to be strong enough to contain any creature of supernatural force. Of course, the mages who had conducted this spell had most likely never met the Entity, but with Aster's spell it just might do the job.

Arthur gave a battle cry of his own, as he swung Excalibur, neatly clipping the end-talon of the creature.

Darlene recited the spell from the scroll that Aster had given them right after he had cast the spell the first time, while Demona prepared to cast the containment spell. For some reason, she seemed almost disinterested in current events, but did as instructed by continuously reciting the incantation.

The Entity was more focused on the battle between it and the rest of the clan, so it did not notice the two sorceresses in the midst of their spell casting. Darlene read out the last of the enhancement ritual, as Demona once more recited the containment spell.

A dark red cloud began to take form in front of Demona, which then started to float away to where Demona's sights were centred on, namely on the Entity. It hovered quickly over to the dimensional creature where it began to grow, spread out and take effect.

The Entity discovered its presence all too late.

The blood-red cloud had enveloped the Entity, and before the Entity even had a chance to strike out, the cloud seemed to take on a life of its own, as it crackled with yellow lightning, striking at the Entity first.

The travelling monster roared in anguish, as it struck out against the cloud, but none of its power seemed to have any effect. It was like it was trapped inside red sand, for whenever it attempted to move; it felt like it was crushing him.

"Moan all you want, bastard, but you're not getting out of there!" Aster roared back at him, as the Entity continued thrashing about within the cloud of smoke.

"_How_?" it hissed.

"I didn't spend all those years travelling around infinite worlds without learning a thing or two," Aster smirked.

The rest of the clan kept their assorted weapons aimed at the Entity, none of them faltering for even a second, until Broadway finally spoke. "What do we do with… _him_, now?" he asked.

"I'd slit his throat if that were even possible," Aster quietly replied. The clan all hoped he was joking, but the look in his eyes told them otherwise.

"Seriously," Goliath added. "What are we to do with him? This beast can't be killed."

"So we'll have to keep it contained?" Brooklyn said in disbelief. "You're saying we gotta be stuck with this thing living under our roof for the rest of our lives?"

"I don't think you need worry about that, Brooklyn," Demona's soft yet steel-edged voice said from behind him.

"Huh…?" Brooklyn turned around, but didn't even get to see what she was talking about…

"Dominatai Hostus, May-e-u-be status!" Demona cried out, using the spell known to Goliath very well, as he remembered it from the time when the British Gargoyle Una had used it on him, Elisa, Angela and Bronx in London. A trail of electricity shot out from her talons, striking all of the clan simultaneously, electrifying the lot of them.

As Goliath fell to the ground in a heap, his last sight was of Demona, her face unreadable. But he saw her looking over to where Darlene now lay, and heard her say… "Forgive me, daughter," before he passed out.

0000000000

"_You did well, Demona… or is it Miss Destine now?" _

Goliath could vaguely make out the arrogant voice of the Vene girl, Cecile, coming from somewhere. He tried to open his eyes, but his head was still pounding from the shock spell that Demona had laid on them. It took him a few moments, but eventually he forced them to open.

Once he had done, though, he wished he hadn't.

All around him were his enemies, the Venes, the alternate versions of himself and the others from his clan, and Thailog, while Goliath's clan, including Griff and Aster, were all lying seemingly unconscious right beside him.

Darlene and Angela seemed to be tied up somewhere ahead of them, nearer to where his enemies were all stationed. It didn't take him long to figure out why.

Demona was standing right before him, practically hand in claw with the female Vene, acting as though she had just completed a business deal.

"You recall the details of our arrangement," Demona said to the young girl. "Neither you nor _Thailog_," she said his name with venom in her voice, glaring daggers at the cloned warrior beside the young sorceress, "will go after me or any of my family."

"As promised," Cecile confirmed, nodding. "You and your kin are safe from mine."

As Goliath peered closer, he noticed the small Seer demon-child, Sarah Foster, standing between the two Gargoyle doubles of Brooklyn and Broadway. She did not look scared, but then she never looked anything. The years of being the Vene's slave, and being bound to a demon, had drained her of any and all emotion within her.

The two savages were staring at Darlene and Angela with their usual lustful glares, something that didn't go unnoticed by Demona who stood right between them and her daughters, snarling at them viciously.

Cecile gave a small grin, but raised her hand at the Gargoyles, indicating that they were not to go any further to the fair-haired and young Gargesses.

"Demona!" Goliath growled, his strength returning. "You… betrayed us… again!"

Demona did not even turn around, but merely replied, "I do what I do to protect my clan, Goliath, as you yourself should know better than anyone."

Goliath snarled, but was still not strong enough to raise himself.

"I should've known better than to trust any dimensional version of that flame-headed witch!" Goliath heard Aster swore beside him, and for once he heartily agreed with him.

"Enough talk for the moment," Cecile declared, and walked over to where the Entity was still bound in his magical cloud. "You and I have things to discuss, my travelling friend."

"_What do you seek from me_?" the Entity asked, curiously.

"A creature with your ability to move through other realities would prove to be most beneficial to my family," Cecile explained. "I'm certain my father would have great use for you. Swear to serve my clan, and we will grant you your freedom."

"_I serve no one_!" the Entity hissed.

"Not even to gain your own freedom?" Cecile smirked. "And rest assured, in return for your services, my family would be more than happy to supply you with all the souls you can digest."

The Entity paused at that, as the idea of getting free so that he might escape one day was good enough, but the notion of having all the souls he could eat was priceless. Perhaps it would be best if he stayed around for a while… for now.

"_Let's talk," _it replied.

Goliath could only lie where he was, glaring at all of them individually. The counterparts of his clan were all busy smirking at them, Thailog just stood perfectly still where he was, and Cecile and her brothers were busy chatting away with the Entity. As a result, no one noticed the way that Demona kept edging away from them.

Excalibur was lying on the ground. Cecile had taken great joy at seeing that when she had first arrived. She had paraded around with it for a few minutes, brandishing it everywhere until she had finally set it down again when she was discussing details with Demona and then the Entity.

It was the sword that Demona was now heading towards, taking care not to let anyone spot her doing do. She soon reached it, picking it up in her talons.

"Now, what shall we do with you?" Cecile then spoke, casually walking over to the clan, smirking at Goliath.

The clan leader roared, as he attempted to raise himself again, but was still unable to, making Cecile laugh.

"Forget it, handsome," she boasted. "While you and your clan slept, I enchanted you all so that you would all be weak and helpless as kittens for hours to come. It is in this state that you shall remain until your fates are decided."

Demona began heading over towards the portal, which was still open, its flames still burning and being sucked within the abyss.

"I can think of a few things that your counterparts here would love to do to you," she said, continuing to smile, as Adhamh and the counter Gargoyles all grinned nastily at the Manhattan clan. The way Adhamh brandished his own sword was enough to chill Goliath's blood, particularly when he saw him looking at one of the trio.

"Stay away from them!" he demanded.

Adhamh just grinned at him. "Care to fill me in on how you'd be able to stop me, lad?"

While he was talking, Demona raised Excalibur above her head and began chanting…

She spoke the same incantation, as before and as quickly as possible, which she aimed at the sword. By the time the Venes turned to see what the noise was about, she had already completed the spell.

"What on…?" Cecile Vene started, but before she could fully ask the question, the whole world seemed to explode before her eyes.

In truth, it was not the world, but in fact Excalibur. The sword shone with the light of a thousand suns, as it glowed within Demona's grasp. The immortal Gargess however had her eyes shut, so the light would not bother her, and the next thing she did was fling Excalibur at the portal itself.

"NO!" Cecile cried, raising her hands to retrieve the sword by magic, but was not in time.

The instant Excalibur was pulled into the portal, it exploded with a further force, the flames kicking up with excessive light, followed by the vacuum force increasing to the point where it almost felt like the very head of Lady Liberty was about to be ripped off and pulled in.

The Entity roared, as it whizzed right through the air, landing straight in the centre of the portal, disappearing from view.

"What have you done?" Cecile screamed, as she also felt herself being pulled toward the portal.

Demona snarled at her. "Given you what you wanted, whelp! You desired the power of Excalibur so much, so I gave it to you… after increasing its power almost ten fold!"

The dark counterparts of the clan were the first to go, their exit all the more hastened thanks to the wind and their wings. Goliath's doppelganger roared, as he felt himself soar up into the air, being sucked right into the portal. Adhamh and the alter-trio soon followed, their inhuman roars and snarls echoing behind them.

Cecile screamed, as she tried summoning all her strength and magic to protect or teleport herself, or anything that would save her from the maddening magic before her. But no matter how hard she tried, it appeared Excalibur's magic was stronger than anything she or the entire generations of her family-line had ever encountered.

"Demona!" Goliath yelled, as the Vene's binding spell over them all had faded since Excalibur had been thrown into the portal. "What has happened? What did you do?"

"I used Aster's spell to enhance the magic of Excalibur!" she yelled back, rushing over to her daughters to keep them from being pulled into the portal's grip. "The sword's whole existence is solely for the expulsion of evil! When I cast the spell, it read my mind and is now using the power of the portal to expel all the evil that is here!"

"WHOA!" Lexington yelped, as he was nearly swept up with the rest of the dark clan. "Hey! I know I maybe on the computer a lot, but that doesn't qualify me as evil!"

"The portal must be too powerful now, so it's taking up everyone and everything until all the evil ones are gone!" Demona explained, trying desperately to hold on. She, too, was finding it increasingly difficult to escape the portal's pull. She didn't want to admit it, but all the centuries of dark deeds she had done had more than earned her a place in the portal's grip.

"NOOOO!" Cecile screamed, as she and her brothers felt their grips loosening. The two Vene brothers, Damien and Nathan, were also using every trick they could muster to escape, but to no avail.

"THIS ISN'T OVER, GARGOYLES!" Cecile screamed at them. "MAKE NO MISTAKE! WE WILL BE AVENGED! OUR FATHER, OUR WHOLE FAMILY WILL… AAARGHHH!"

Cecile's screamed her last, as she lost whatever grip she had left on Lady Liberty's stone-hair, soaring straight up into the air and into the portal, her brothers following after her.

From beyond them, Thailog, who had nearer the edge, had already taken flight and escaped. He had been the only one who had noticed Demona edging herself toward Excalibur, and guessed that she was up to something. He had said nothing because deep down, he yearned for the Vene's vanquish more than anything. Being their bitch was definitely not something he looked forward to spending the rest of his life as.

Sarah Foster was not staying where she had been, but was actually apparently edging herself closer to the portal itself.

"Sarah, no!" Goliath yelled, trying to reach her in time. "Get away from there! You'll…!"

"I know, Goliath!" she yelled back. "But this is the way it has to be." She looked back to stare at him sadly. "My life ended long ago, Goliath! My family are all gone, and I am forever bound to the life-force of a demon, one who takes me over and kills whoever crosses its path! If I remain here, that will be my fate for all eternity!"

Goliath stared at her intensely. "We could find a way to help you!"

"No, you won't," she shook her head. "Trust me, I know! I've seen it." She said the last part quieter, but Goliath knew what she was saying, and deep down he knew she was right.

Sarah then got up and threw herself over to the portal, instantly being pulled in.

"Sarah!" Goliath roared, but could do nothing, as the lifelong prisoner of the Venes left their world forever.

But still the portal did not close.

"What's happening?" Darlene shouted, having regained consciousness.

"The portal will not close, it's grown too powerful for me to shut off!" Demona cried out, holding onto the ground with all her might.

"What does that…?"

"It means the portal won't close from this side!" Aster called out to her, looking as though he were getting ready to stand up. "But it may be able to be closed from the other side!"

Goliath turned at stare wide-eyed at him. "No!" he shouted. "We've lost Sarah, we won't lose another one!"

"Don't be such a pansy, Goliath!" Aster said, half-mockingly. "You and I both know it makes perfect sense! What are you gonna do? Let me stay while the rest of your world gets sucked into oblivion?"

"Stay with us, Aster!" Angela's voice pleaded with him through the roar of the portal. "You can make a new home here with us!"

"My home's been gone a long time now, Angela," Aster replied, his lowered to the point where the whole clan had to strain their ear to listen. "And you're not the first clan that's offered me sanctuary. I thank you, but the truth is, I should've have died with the rest of my world years ago. Since I lost my world, I've been living nothing more than a half-life. At least this way, I get to go out with a bang!"

"I won't let you!" Goliath cried, getting up to charge after the young traveller. He had already lost one innocent, he would be damned if he would lose another one.

"Sorry, leader," Aster added, and then with one sharp kick from his foot, he sent Goliath sprawling on the ground. "But time's-A-wasting!" With Goliath gone down, Aster hurried over to the portal, but not before taking one short look at the genetic double of his grandmother.

"Never thought I'd hear myself say this on any world," he then added. "But… thanks, Demona. You've helped me today more than anyone has done in years."

Before Demona could make a response, assuming of course if she had been about to, Aster hurled himself up into the portal's suction. As he past through the portal, he recited the anti-incantation, which would end the spell once and for all. He recited it quickly, but efficiently, and a second later… he was gone.

The flames around the portal began to flare up again, as they circled the black hole within their circle, closing in upon it until finally… The circle seemed to fall in on itself, closing up completely before everyone present. There was a flash and a further explosion, which echoed throughout the entire island and beyond to Manhattan, and then… silence. There was one further sound, but only that of a small clanging, like metal banging against metal, but after that there was no sound to be heard whatsoever.

When the dust had settled, everyone looked up to see the portal gone from sight, with Excalibur lying on the ground where it had been. The sword had obviously been the clanging sound that they had heard last.

The clan slowly got up, moving over to where the portal had been, staring at the place like they would at a grave…

"How?" Darlene finally asked after a few minutes of silence.

"The dragon," Demona simply replied.

"The dragon?" Hudson queried, staring at her curiously.

"When me, the detective and that annoying lawyer were on that blind date with that dragon lord," the immortal explained, "the Venes must have forgotten, or just didn't care, that when the dragon got his mistress, he would bestow upon one a powerful gift of insight or knowledge. I was the last to leave, so he bestowed his gift upon me, and he gave me the ability to foresee what was to come, and how to counter it."

The others just stared at her.

"You've known this was going to happen all along?" Lex said, astounded.

"Not this precisely," she admitted. "But I knew something was going to happen, and I knew the key to defeating all our enemies lay within Excalibur. Its power has been used for centuries to combat evil, so it just made sense. I contacted the detective's younger sibling, the thief, and got him to tell me everything he knew of the Venes, and to inform them of tonight's attempt to subdue the Entity."

"You helped them to entrap us!" Goliath snarled.

Demona snarled back at him. "It was the only way to defeat both them and the Entity, Goliath. They're all gone now, so quit whining!"

"They're not the only ones who are gone, mother," Darlene said sorrowfully.

"Couldn't you have done something to save Aster?" Angela near pleaded.

Demona just sighed. "Even if there was, I doubt he would have taken it. You heard him yourselves, my daughters. As far as he was concerned, his spirit died long ago, along with the rest of his world. At least this way, he can now have some peace."

"What about Thailog?" Brooklyn suddenly asked. "He never went through the portal with the others."

Darlene's eyes flared red at the clone's name. "Damn it!" she swore.

Demona was inclined to agree. "He may have escaped, for now, but he no longer has access to the Vene's magic, so he can't hurt Lana anymore. His financial resources have been stripped away. His… _business dealing_ with the Venes gave me valuable time with which to locate and sever any remaining ties he had within the business world. As a result, he will have to spend an enormous amount of time trying to rebuild his financial empire."

"So that's it?" Broadway asked. "It's all over?"

Hudson snorted. "Hardly, lad," he mused. "It might take a while, but Thailog has proven time and time again that he's one clever bastard. Who knows what he's capable of? And don't forget that those Vene brats were still no more than that… brats. They no doubt had parents or some form of relatives out there somewhere. Once they learn of their kin's exile from this world, they'll no doubt want revenge."

Goliath heaved a deep sigh. "Undoubtedly," he agreed. "But I think it's best if we worry about that another night. We have achieved a great victory tonight, and lost much at the same time, too. So for now… let's go home."

The rest of the clan agreed, and started to make their way home.

Arthur went to collect Excalibur from where it had fallen, and then hitched a lift with Goliath to return to the Eyrie, with Hudson, Brooklyn and Lex behind them. Angela wanted to stay with her mother for a while, but then decided that Demona was more than okay with just Darlene for company, and so chose to instead return to the Eyrie with the others, her arm closely entwined with that of her beloved Broadway. And Griff chose to accompany Darlene back to their manor house, his concern for her most touching.

Within moments, the whole clan left Liberty Island, returning to their homes, safe and secure in the knowledge that, for now, all their enemies were vanquished.

0000000000

The days passed by fairly quickly, and each of the clan had his or her own demons to settle.

Demona had a lot to make up with her grandson Jarred. The first thing she knew was that she had to apologise, something that she had never been very good at. When she eventually did say it, her apology came out in a stutter of mumblings and constant pauses. But in the end, a few extra lessons in magic seemed to do the trick, and Jarred soon forgot all about their minor mishap. Though the magic lessons had come with a price, mostly for Demona, as her house had now suffered a large number of explosions.

Demona also had the rest of the clan to apologise to, but as far as she was concerned, the rest of the clan could go take a flying leap. The only two Gargoyles she cared about enough to apologise were her own two daughters. Darlene had accepted her apology quickly, knowing that she had had little choice, not if she were to have been successful in vanquishing everyone. Angela was a different story though.

Angela had been furious with her mother for her deceit and lies, even if they had been for the right reasons. They never had a loving mother/daughter relationship, but they got by. It had taken time, but gradually she learned to forgive and forget.

With the Venes gone, King Arthur had soon taken his leave to continue his quest to find his friend and teacher, Merlin. Griff had of course gone with him, though he had been more than reluctant to leave Darlene in doing so. Darlene, too, had been reluctant to part company with him, but she knew he had his duty to Arthur and couldn't drop it, even for her. They had spent one final evening together, soaring the skies and wrapped in each other's arms and wings. The following night they had had a tearful goodbye, but one that ended with a promise from Griff that someday he would return to her, which he swore with his life blood.

Darlene had sworn not to cry, but she had always been the more emotional one of her family, but she took his oath and also swore to wait for him, no matter how long it took for them to be together again. Until then, she had more than enough to keep her busy. She decided to re-take the lessons she had once taken with her mother, to polish her forgotten skills in fighting and sorcery. Not to mention she still had her children to raise as well.

Lana had been doing quite all right now. Since Thailog no longer had access to the Venes magic, so he could no longer invade her dreams and mentally torture her from within. With the promise that he couldn't hurt her anymore, Lana had soon recovered, putting him out of her mind as much as possible. And whenever she felt threatened or ill at ease, Gabriel was there in a heartbeat to comfort her.

Angela also took comfort, whenever offered, from Broadway, and Elisa from Goliath and vice versa. Perhaps it was all the love in the air that made Brooklyn and Lex want to leave for a while.

Brooklyn and Lex had spent the next few months with the clan, fighting to make the city a safer place, but in the end they decided that they needed to take a break, namely to go visit Avalon and the two rookery sisters of Angela that they had met at Goliath and Elisa's wedding. Thus, they had, and because of the time difference on Avalon, they had been gone for months, but eventually they did return, and when they did they were not alone.

Angela's sisters had returned with them, intent on remaining in the mortal world with them and making Manhattan their new home and protectorate.

More months passed, and the clan grew more at ease with each passing night. Elisa continued her night-shifts, fighting crime and making nice with her Gargoyle husband at night, and sleeping during the day. Hudson forever said that she would make a terrific Gargoyle.

Jarred worked hard on his studies, both on his magic and his warrior skills. He became a most promising student, but he still couldn't find a way to escape the affection of Bronx's over-grown tongue.

Gem learned to talk, and was soon walking on her two legs instead of all fours. Xanatos made a few more business mergers. Alex honed his magical skills well under the guidance of Puck/Owen.

And somewhere, a red-eyed Gargoyle and a vengeful father made plans to attack…

**The End!**

_**This marks the end of my Darlene saga, as I've just grown too bored with it to continue. I believe I've settled everything so that there are no loose ends, but left it off on a small cliffhanger in case I should ever wish to return. If anyone else wants to write my saga or use any of my characters, be my guest.**_


End file.
